


The Parenting Squad

by BigMack42



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Adultery, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexuality, Co-Parenting, Depression, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/F, F/M, Gun Violence, Lesbian Sex, Loss of Parent(s), Parenthood, References to Drugs, Smut, Strap-Ons, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:41:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 24,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BigMack42/pseuds/BigMack42
Summary: Mako's married to the most beautiful and successful woman in all of Republic City. They have a newborn daughter and he's pretty sure he must have won the lottery with his little family.Except, what is he supposed to do when his ex-mistress shows up on his doorstep, three months pregnant with his child?A story of sex, love, baby mamas, co-parenting, and finding out that you can't judge a book by it's cover.
Relationships: Bolin/Opal (Avatar), Korra/Asami Sato, Korra/Kuvira (Avatar), Korra/Mako (Avatar), Lin Beifong/Kya II, Mako/Asami Sato, Pema/Tenzin (Avatar), Senna/Tonraq (Avatar)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 90





	1. Mako’s Big Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> Mostly told in Korra and Asami's point of view, but sometimes Mako or the kids. Point of view will be centered, underlined, and bold.
> 
> Chapters are not even close to even in terms of word count. Story is split how I saw fit.
> 
> Happy ending. Korrasami endgame. Violence is only mentioned in terms of what happened to a character after they are in the hospital.
> 
> So, I really hate when a story isn't complete and I get hooked on it, so I usually like to write my stories offline and only post once they are done. However, apparently this isn't the general consensus. I will post this story in parts then, but it is complete. Not sure how often/how many parts I'll dump at once, so stay tuned.

**Mako**

Mako wasn’t sure how his life had unraveled so quickly. Now that he was living with his brother and his brother’s girlfriend, instead of with a woman of his own, he had to admit he wasn’t too happy with how things had turned out for him. 

Sure, he liked his job, and he was a good detective at that, but the bills from his recent fuck ups kept mounting. Mako was sure he would be stuck eating Flameo Instant Noodles for the rest of his life.

Before all of this, Mako was married to the most beautiful and successful woman in Republic City. Next thing he knew, they had a baby on the way. Mako was ecstatic! He was putting in double shifts at work so that he could build up enough leave time to help out once the baby came. Mako prided himself on being a good and loving husband. He was doing it all. He was going to the corner store at 3:00 AM to buy the specific flavor of ice cream his wife wanted. He was rubbing her feet because they were swollen. He had even stepped up and took over some of the household duties his wife usually attended to. 

Before he knew it though, he was doing something stupid. And he really didn’t know how he had found the time for it. He was so busy preparing for the baby! There was a new woman at the Republic City Police Department and he couldn’t help himself around her. She was incredible. There were days that he wished he had met this woman first, instead of his wife. But he pushed all those feelings down, locked them away, he had to. Mako would never cheat. 

Except that, somehow, he did.

It started innocently enough. They would brush past each other and he could feel electricity pulse through him when their shoulders or hands would make contact accidentally. She brought him coffee sometimes, for which he was grateful. Eventually, he brought her breakfast a few times. Nothing big, just a bagel or something. Then, they were working closely together on a case. They argued a lot, but something about that just fueled his attraction to her more. His wife was always so proper. She could get mad, of course, but the passion he felt when arguing with this woman was something his wife couldn’t hold a candle to.

Mako wasn’t sure who started it, but it didn’t matter. He would have if she didn’t. All he knows is that they started fucking at work. A lot. Then he started sneaking around and meeting her at her apartment. Eventually, he made excuses to his wife that he’s working late but he would take this woman out to dinner instead. The woman knew Mako was married, his wedding ring was very visible, but it wasn’t something either of them ever seemed interested in talking about.

Unexpectedly, the officer dumped Mako. They had argued, like usual, about something at work. Mako had admitted to himself recently that they had nothing else in common. She had earned a spot on a special strike unit and she was excited about it. He couldn’t get himself to share in her excitement, though. Mako was scared for her taking on that new role because it was a dangerous position. He didn’t want to lose her. He suggested she should try and become a detective instead, something a little safer, but she just yelled at him. When all was said and done, she had called it off.

Mako had to admit he was relieved. He knew it would blow up in his face sooner or later, so at least she broke it off first. He didn’t think he could’ve been the one to do that. She avoided him at work from then on and spoke professionally to him if they had to work together.

Mako was more attentive at home after his girlfriend broke up with him. His wife had started maternity leave because the baby was due any day. He doted on her, as any loving husband should. Honestly, he was more in love with her than ever before. What was that thing with that officer? It was nothing, she was nothing, and nothing compared to his love for his wife.

The baby was born and it was a joyous day. He never knew his heart could be so full. Mother and baby both came through the ordeal splendidly. When the doctor handed Mako his baby girl, he was full on crying. He had his perfect little family.

The next few weeks at home were exhausting, but Mako wouldn’t trade a minute of it. He loved caring for his wife and baby. He was so glad he could put his infidelity behind him and forget it ever happened. It was a mistake, he knew, and he would atone in silence for it. His wife didn’t need to know, since it would just hurt her. He couldn’t take it back, he couldn’t change it, and all he could do was move on. He was determined to be the best husband and father anyone has ever seen.

He was lying in bed one morning, staring at his sleeping wife, and wondering how he got so lucky. The baby started crying and he got up to change her and then brought her into the bedroom so she could eat. “I’ll go get something started for us to eat, honey.” Mako said to his wife.

“Thanks, baby. You’re the best.” Asami told him as the baby snuggled up close and began her breakfast.

He chuckled to himself. It was bliss. Exhausted, poop-filled, bliss. He made it to the kitchen and started cooking some bacon and eggs. He had just put some toast in when the doorbell rang. “Who could that be?” He asked himself. Shrugging, he walked to the door.

“K-Korra? What are you doing here?” Mako asked when he was faced with his ex-girlfriend.

“Mako, we need to talk.” Korra said. She stepped into the house and that’s when Mako took in her appearance for the first time. She was a little disheveled, looking almost as exhausted as Mako and Asami were, and then there was her belly. Her round and swollen belly. Just like his wife’s had been very recently.

He started to think quickly. He hadn’t seen Korra at work for a few weeks before he took leave. He had vaguely wondered why, but didn’t put too much thought into it. She had become very good at avoiding him by this point. Now he was thinking about it. _When was the last time I saw her? When was the last time we fucked? How far along is she? Is that baby…?_

“I…” Mako started to say, but no other words came out.

“Before you ask, yes, it’s yours. I haven’t been with anyone else.” Korra said.

“How far along?” Mako managed to croak out.

“Just got into the second trimester.” Korra said.

That’s when things went from bad to worse. “Honey? Who’s at the door?” Asami yelled from upstairs.

“Listen, can we talk about this later?” Mako asked in a hushed voice, his brain had finally started working. He knew couldn’t have this conversation with both women at the same time.

“No. You’re going to have to deal with this at some point, Mako. Man up. I know you have balls, it surprised me to see them, but here we have the proof.” Korra said and pointed to her belly and upstairs.

“Ugh. Can you, just, not, for two seconds? Please? Please, I will do whatever you want, I just, please don’t make this harder for me.” Mako begged her. He heard Asami coming down the stairs.

“Excuse me? Don’t make this harder for you? Do you really have the audacity to say that to me?”

“Listen, you’re the one that showed up on my doorstep, unannounced! You can’t just do that to people!” Mako bellowed.

“Yeah, well this was pretty unannounced too!” Korra yelled back, again pointing to her belly.

“Mako, what’s going on?” Asami was in the room now. Holding their infant daughter, Miyabi.

“Hi, you must be Asami?” Korra asked, stepping forward and holding out her hand. “I’m Korra, a coworker of Mako’s. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, Korra. Is there something we can do for you? Is there a work problem he’s needed on? I know he’s been on leave, but if it’s an emergency or something…” Asami started.

“Oh no. Nothing like that. Unfortunately, this visit isn’t work related. Mako?” Korra rounded on him. “Are you going to tell her?”

“Tell me what Mako?” Asami asked. Mako couldn’t look at either of them. He was sweating and very close to having a panic attack.

“I-I…see, what happened w-was…um, I don’t really…” Mako was fumbling over his words, but he was trying his hardest to tell his wife the truth.

“You’re not going to do it are you?” Korra glared at him. “So typical of you! Spirits, you’re an asshole.” She was yelling now.

“Excuse me? I think you should leave.” Asami said, stepping forward to open the door.

“I will leave very soon, I promise you, Asami. I don’t want to be here anymore than you want me here. But you should know, I’m pregnant. And Mako is the father. Before you ask, yes I’m sure, and yes, I’m keeping it. I just hit the second trimester.”

Asami didn’t miss a beat. She immediately defended her husband. “You must be mistaken.” Asami said in her politest voice. Mako knew better than to trust that tone though. It was the same one she used when making business deals. He had seen her make grown men cry with that tone.

“I’m sorry that he didn’t tell you himself, but I’m not mistaken. Mako and I had an affair for several months. I ended it a few months ago, because, well, all we did was argue.” Korra admitted.

“You come in here and expect me to believe this? Listen, lady, if you want money, all you needed to do was ask. I’ve got more than enough and the more I donate to worthy causes the more of a tax write off I get. You didn’t need to come in here and make up some story about my husband being the father of your unborn baby. Obviously, you found a deadbeat to sleep with who didn’t stick around. It happens all the time, and I feel for you, I really do…” Asami said.

Korra cut her off. “You feel for me? Oh that’s rich. Listen, lady, I don’t want your money. Or his for that matter. I wanted him to know so that he could have a chance to be in this child’s life. But clearly you’ve got his priorities figured out for him. And for the record the only deadbeat here is your husband.”

Asami was about to start in again. She had raised her hand up and was pointing it at Korra. Mako put a gentle hand on her arm to lower it and instead he spoke. “Asami, I’m…I’m sorry. Korra is telling the truth. I had an affair. I slept with her. I’m really sorry.”

Asami just looked at him like it was the first time she had seen him properly.

“Out.” Asami said simply.

“W-what?” Mako was dumbfounded. He knew she’d be mad, but he thought they could work through it. Or he hoped they could.

“You heard me. Get. Out.” Asami said.

He looked between the two women. Korra had her arms crossed in a look that only said “what did you think would happen?” while Asami glared daggers at him.

“But I…” Mako tried to say.

“No. You don’t get to say anything. We are through. You’ll be hearing from my lawyer. I’ll mail your things to Bolin. Get out now. And Korra? As much as I hate you, you might as well stay for a minute so we can exchange contact information. If little Miyabi is going to have a sibling, it looks like we might be seeing more of each other.” Asami reasoned.

“Thank you, Asami. I promise I’m not after anything else.” Korra said.

“This doesn’t mean we are friends. You’re still a home wrecker in my eyes.” Asami stated.

“Like I would want to be friends with a stuck up rich girl like you. And your husband was the one that wrecked your home. I was just stupid enough to fall for him too.” Korra said.

“Weren’t you leaving?” Asami said to Mako. He knew that being around the two women wasn’t going to end well for him at all. So he did as he was told and left.

He went to his brother’s apartment. Bolin gave him grief but he wasn’t too judgmental. He just asked if he had worn a condom, to which Mako replied with “sometimes.” Bolin shook his head at this response, but at least he hugged Mako with one of his signature, bone-crushing hugs.

Little by little though, life returned to normal for Mako. He got to see Miyabi three times a week, but always at Asami’s house. She took the time to constantly remind Mako that the house was hers. She relegated him to the living room for the few hours he was there. It didn’t matter though, Mako was glad Asami was letting him see his child. She would go upstairs while Mako was over and then come back down when it was time for him to go.

Mako had gone back to work sooner than he had intended. There wasn’t a point sitting around at Bolin’s place with nothing to do. And if he was going to have a second baby so soon after the first, without the luxury of the Sato fortune behind him, he needed all of the hours he could get.

Each night he wasn’t at Asami’s; he was at Korra’s. She reluctantly let him help out around her apartment. Korra didn’t like being taken care of, but after she was in the third trimester, she couldn’t move too well. He wasn’t sure how it happened, but they had rekindled their relationship too. He moved in around that time, both of them admitting it was just easier this way. There was less yelling than before, which pleased Mako, but made him uneasy. He walked on eggshells around her. A lot of the spark had gone, but it was nice to have someone again.

So he was detective, boyfriend, separated husband, father, and father-to-be. Korra gave birth to a girl and named her Katek. Mako felt the same joy he had when Miyabi was born. Here was this perfect little being that he helped create and that he would help to raise. In that moment, it didn’t matter that he had messed up so badly. He had a wonderful girlfriend and two beautiful babies. Mako felt that Raava had blessed him to give him so much.

He should have known it was too good to be true. A few months after Katek was born, Korra kicked him out. Mako had been getting closer to Asami again and the two had started to rekindle things as well. He had lied to her though and said he wasn’t in a relationship with Korra. He told Asami that he was staying at Bolin’s.

Mako had forgotten that the two women in his life talked to each other out of necessity. They were always cordial, bordering on hostile, but they kept each other informed so that Mako could spend time with his children. So when Korra kicked Mako out for good, Asami cut him off for good as well. Bolin had officially moved in with his girlfriend, Opal, by this time and that’s where Mako found himself. Rock bottom. He was signing divorce papers; completing child support documents online, and eating Flameo Instant Noodles. All in someone else’s home.

Mako really didn’t know how he was able to mess up this badly. One minute, he was married to Asami with a baby on the way. The next minute, Mako had four women in his life that he loved dearly. Two of those women hated his guts. He was glad that the two youngest still lit up when he walked in a room.


	2. Asami's Shattered Plans

**Asami**

The first two years of Miyabi’s life brought a lot of changes to Asami’s own life. Changes that she never wanted. Her beautiful, wonderful daughter had a half sister, just about six months younger. This wasn’t part of Asami’s plan. No, none of it was. 

A cheating husband that got another woman pregnant. A divorce while their daughter was still an infant. An empty house when Miyabi would go and stay with her father. This wasn’t how her life was supposed to go.

No, if she had her way, Asami’s life would have gone like this: fall in love, get married, buy a house, have a baby or several, and when her father retired she would take over his company. Well, after the first part of that went to shit, life decided to add another shit storm to Asami. Her father wasn’t able to retire in peace after a long successful career. Instead, he was arrested for insider trading, embezzlement, tax evasion, and a whole host of other crimes, not to mention manufacturing and selling weapons illegally. He would never see the light of day again.

When her father’s crimes came to light, Miyabi was just over a year old and Asami was freshly divorced. She thought that she was done seeing her lawyer for a while. Only for him to call her a week later and tell her she needs to come see him right away. If she thought her world had already come crashing down on her, well, Asami was very much mistaken. The weight of her father’s crimes was enough to make her want to give up. But she didn’t. She had this baby that depended on her. Asami didn’t know what else would happen in this child’s life, but she would make sure that she was always there for Miyabi.

So Asami took over the multi-billion yuan company that her father built and all but ran into the ground. She tried to bring it back from its ruin. It would take a lot of hard work and sacrifice on Asami’s part. However, she swore to herself she would always make time for Miyabi. She knew all too well how horrible it was to have a parent prioritize work over family. Asami made sure she wouldn’t repeat her father’s mistakes.

The girls seemed to like each other well enough. They would spend time together with Mako. Asami had to admit that she enjoyed watching him squirm a little. Juggling two infants was no easy task and she didn’t envy him. She never wanted twins. Six months was hardly an age gap.

Once it became clear that Asami could no longer juggle being CEO and taking care of an infant, she knew she would have to send Miyabi to daycare. Apparently, Korra had just come to the same conclusion, according to Mako. So the three of them sat down and decided that it would be best for the girls to go to the same daycare, if for no other reason than simplicity. It was easier for Mako to pick them both up or drop them both off at the same place if needed. Asami didn’t actually want to make things harder for him. She did love him once.

It was this decision that began the girls’ real attachment to each other. A few hours at Mako’s each week wasn’t really enough to forge that bond, but daycare apparently was. Asami noticed it after the first month or so. Korra and her would look at each other puzzled and heartbroken when they had to separate them at the end of the day. Miyabi, being a little older, would start bawling and throwing a tantrum at pickup. Katek would start crying because Miyabi was crying. It was a nightmare. As much as the girls had bonded, the moms had not. They still tried to keep their lives as separate as possible.

Slowly though, everyone got used to the new routine. By the time Miyabi was two, Asami was just starting to improve things at Future Industries. Her hard work was paying off. The company had investors again and new projects in the pipeline that were going to be profitable.

One evening though, Asami’s assistant called to let her know one of the investors in town that week had something come up, they weren’t going to be able to stay the rest of the week for their scheduled meetings. They needed to meet that evening. Asami called Mako, but he was working and couldn’t watch Miyabi. She then called Bolin, but he and Opal were out of town. She didn’t want to do it, but she had no choice. There was no one else.

“Hello?” Korra answered the phone.

“Hi, Korra. It’s Asami.” Asami said.

“Oh, hey. What’s up? Has Mako done something stupid again?”

“Probably, but that’s not why I’m calling. I had something come up at work, I have to go meet this investor in an hour and there is no way around it. But apparently Mako is at work, and Bolin and Opal are out of town. Do you…you can say no…I really wouldn’t want to impose…but do you think that, if you’re not too busy…?” Asami couldn’t quite get the question out.

“Sure, Asami. Just drop her off. No problem. We are just sitting down for dinner. Is she allergic to anything or hate anything I should know about?” Korra answered without the question leaving Asami’s mouth.

“Nope, no allergies and she likes pretty much everything. Thank you, Korra, really. I owe you one, ok? I’ll take Katek sometime for you.”

“Not a problem, I’m sure they’ll be happy to see each other.”

“Thanks, we will see you in a few minutes then.”

That day was the start of the parenting squad, though none of them knew it yet, or would call it that either. It happened so slowly, that none of them realized. Asami would watch Katek for Korra. Then one of them would pick both girls up from daycare. Asami had a business conference out of town and Mako had a weekend of double shifts, so Korra watched them for the whole weekend. And so it went.

There were a lot of things that happened in Asami’s life that she didn’t want. So it wasn’t much to add on raising another child and parenting with two other people rather than one. None of it was what she wanted in the first place, so why not? Why not twins? Asami could handle a challenge.


	3. Korra Makes the SWAT Team

** Korra **

When Korra went back to work after having Katek, she had been relegated back to desk duty for a while. She was ok with that; she was still dealing with the after effects of childbirth. When Katek was about six months old though, she was back to walking a beat at least. By the time Katek was one, Korra had worked off the baby weight and was back to her very fit self. This was the first step toward reaching her goals. She had been sidetracked for a while, with having a baby, but Korra wanted to be on the SWAT team.

Korra made a decent salary at RCPD. She had enough to support her and Katek comfortably. They had a good apartment in a good neighborhood, they always had clothes on their backs, and they were always well fed. Plus, Korra was able to splurge every once in a while and get her daughter something nice or do something nice for her. Korra would do anything for her daughter. She loved her so much.

The SWAT team came with a larger salary, but that wasn’t the only appeal for Korra. She also wanted to be someone who her daughter could be proud of. There wasn’t anything wrong with being a beat cop, but Korra wanted more. And to her, more was SWAT. She had no interest in being a detective, like Mako always tried to suggest to her. Korra was an active person and she needed something high energy.

When Katek was around two years old, Korra finally resigned herself to the fact that her daughter was going to be best friends with her half sister. Korra was glad the two girls got along so well. She just wished the same could be said for the adults in their lives. It was difficult, co-parenting with two other people, and one of them wasn’t even an ex. Given the choice, Korra wouldn’t have picked either of the other two as part of the trio. She could have dealt with Bolin’s girlfriend Opal, she thought, maybe even Bolin, but Mako and Asami? Ugh.

Still, Korra tried her best, for the girls’ sake. She realized in the short amount of time that this arrangement had started that she started to think of Miyabi as her own child too. But it would have been nice if the two had just sprang into existence spontaneously, rather than having two other people involved in their respective creations.

When Katek was two and a half, Korra finally made the SWAT team. She was meeting everyone at Asami’s to pickup Katek and to announce the good news.

“Mommy!” Katek yelled and ran to her, once Asami let her in the door. The two women were still awkward around each other, but they were getting better.

“Korra!” Miyabi yelled and ran to hug her as well. Korra loved those moments. When she held them both close and she could pour all the love she had into the shared hug with the little creatures.

“Hey you two, guess what?” Korra asked them.

“What?” They chimed together. They were so much alike that it was scary sometimes.

“I made the SWAT team!” Korra told them.

Katek started jumping up and down, she didn’t know what it meant, but she had heard the words enough, so she was excited. Miyabi, by proxy, had also heard the words, so soon there were two toddlers bouncing off the walls.

“Damn it, Korra. I thought we talked about this!” Mako started in. _Here we go,_ Korra thought.

“No, you talked. I listened. That didn’t mean I was agreeing with you.” Korra told him. They were doing their best not to raise their voices, even though the subject was heated. They really didn’t want to argue in front of the girls.

“But it’s so dangerous! And you’re a mother now and…” Mako said.

“I’m not the only mother on the SWAT team, I’ll have you know. And there are plenty of fathers on there too. But that’s fine by you, right? Because at the end of the day, that’s what the issue is. I’m a woman, so I’m fragile and my duty is to the children.” Korra said.

“I never said that.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“Asami, help me out here. Please? You agree with me don’t you? Korra being on the SWAT team puts her in harms way more than other positions on the force. She’s got a daughter to look after!” Mako turned to his ex-wife.

Korra smirked as soon as Asami started speaking. “Hhmm, seems to me, Mako, that Korra is an adult and is capable of making her own decisions. Just like you were when you had an affair. I’m pretty sure she’s thought out the potential consequences of joining the team. She’s aware of the risks and it’s worth it to her anyway. Again, just like you did when you had an affair. So, I really don’t see the problem here.”

“Thank you, Asami.” Korra said. Asami nodded at her.

“Is this going to be the rest of our lives? Everything coming back to my infidelity?” Mako asked.

“Yes.” The women said together. Mako grumbled at this.

“Listen, I really don’t care what you think. I’m doing this and it’s not your decision. You’re not my husband or my boyfriend. If something happens to me, I have no doubt that you’ll do a great job without me. And if something happens to you, there’s Bolin and Opal, and my parents too. It will be ok. Katek won’t starve on the street like you and your brother did.” Korra said to him, telling him the last part in a gentler tone. She knew that was what this was about.

“She’s got me now, too.” Asami said. Korra was shocked to hear that. She knew she would take care of Miyabi in a heartbeat, should something happen to Asami, but it was nice to hear that Asami felt the same way.

“Really?” Mako and Korra both asked.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t…wouldn’t you take care of Miyabi if something happened to me?” Asami asked Korra in a hesitant voice.

“Of course. I just…I know we don’t really get along all the time…” Korra started.

“That doesn’t matter, Korra. We don’t have to be best friends. But the three of us have to be the best parents. Which includes, no arguing in front of them.” Asami said.

“Ok, agreed, I’m sorry. But I do have to get going now, we can talk more later about the no arguing. I’ll see you all later. Love you girls!” Mako grumbled the first part, but gave the girls hugs and left.

Korra went to take Katek’s hand and leave, but she turned to speak to Asami again. “Thank you. That really means a lot you know.”

“No need to thank me. I feel like she’s as much mine as yours these days. I certainly love her like my own.” Asami said.

“I feel the same way. It’s just nice that we can trust each other, you know?” Korra said.

With that, Korra and Katek left to go home.


	4. Birth of the Parenting Squad

**Asami**

Asami was pissed. She had tried to set some ground rules for the three co-parents but it was difficult to keep everyone on the same page. She knew it wasn’t on purpose, but she was done with this half-assed approach.

One evening, she had Bolin and Opal take the girls for a sleepover. Mako finally had his own place, so a sleepover at Uncle Bo’s house was very exciting to the girls. Asami invited Mako and Korra over to her house for the evening. She was determined to hash out a contract between the three of them. She was a formidable person in the business world, and she was going to come at this problem the same way.

They walked in and she led them to the kitchen table. She didn’t want them to be comfortable on couches in the living room. This was business. She needed the atmosphere to resemble a conference room as much as possible.

“Thank you both for coming over. I’m sure you’re curious as to why I’ve asked you both here today.” Asami said.

“It’s a little like being called to the principal’s office. I swear, miss, I didn’t do it. I don’t know how my hands got spray paint on them. Johnny absolutely put his own head in the toilet for that swirly.” Korra joked. Asami fought the urge to roll her eyes. This was one of the things she didn’t like about Korra. Everything was a joke to her. She could never be serious.

“Well, after the fight the other day in front of the girls, it was brought to my attention that we needed a contract for our little trio. I want to get everything out on paper, agreed upon, and that is the end of it. Are you both on board with this plan?” Asami asked.

“Sure. Fine by me.” Mako said. Asami was glad he didn’t argue. He could learn from his mistakes, apparently, having disagreed with her sensible plans a number of times in the past. He also knew when it was a bad idea to piss her off.

“As much as I hate to admit it, it’s probably a good idea. Like, how are we going to tell them about sex? And that kind of stuff. I know I don’t want to say anything in front of Miyabi that I shouldn’t.” Korra said. Asami breathed a sigh of relief. She really didn’t know how the woman would react to this idea. She might decide to make jokes, but at least part of her was going to take this seriously.

“Wonderful. Let’s begin. Now, I think the most important thing is no fighting in front of the children. We need to present a united front. If we need to disagree on something, or if we are unsure, we can tell them that the adults need to discuss it.” Asami said.

“That’s fair.” Korra said.

“Uh, sure. That’s fine.” Mako said.

“Dating.” Korra said.

“I don’t think we have to worry about that for a few years, Korra.” Mako said, half laughing, half scolding.

“No, I meant us. No offense to either of you, but I don’t want any of your floozies brought around them, Mako, and Asami…well, I can only assume you have a line of boring suitors that have to go through some quest for your hand first?” Korra finished.

Mako laughed. Asami frowned. This was going to be a long night. “I think you bring up a great point Korra. We will not bring anyone around the girls until it is a serious relationship.”

“And we need to approve. If it’s getting serious enough that the person might be a part of the girls’ life, I think we should have a little bit of a say. I mean, this is hard enough with three of us. Can you imagine adding a fourth? Or, if there wind up being six of us eventually?” Korra shuddered.

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Mako admitted.

“Of course you hadn’t. But that’s exactly why we’re talking about this. That’s completely fair though. We are all adults, and in the end, we don’t really have a say in who we can each date. But, if it’s serious enough that someone might get married or move in together, then they’re going to be another parent. They need to face our parenting squad and agree to our contract as well.” Asami said.

“More like firing squad.” Korra joked.

“And with that, I think it’s time for a drink.” Asami said. It really was going to be a long night.


	5. Why Can’t We Live Together?

** Korra **

When the girls turned five, they started school. Korra was glad they were in the same grade because she didn’t think the two would be able to stand it if they were separated by arbitrary rules like that. After they had been in kindergarten for about a month, they were all at Asami’s house for the usual pickup/drop off.

The girls were off playing and so the adults made small talk in the living room for a while. After a few minutes the girls marched back into the living room. “We have questions.” Miyabi stated boldly.

The adults looked at each other for a moment. Korra was about to speak, but Asami beat her to it. “Ok, what are your questions, girls?” Asami asked.

“A lot of other kids at school have siblings.” Katek started to explain.

“Ok…did the kids at daycare not have siblings?” Korra asked them. She didn’t know where this was going.

The girls looked at each other, also confused. They decided to just ignore Korra and move on with their prepared speech. “A lot of them live together. They get to see their sisters all the time!” Miyabi said.

“Why don’t we get to live together?” Katek finished.

Mako went white as a sheet. Korra let out a small laugh. Asami sighed and looked to the other two. Korra knew they had all prepared for this conversation. It was in the parenting contract. They had talked about it frequently. They had their answers practiced. It didn’t make the conversation any easier.

“Wouldn’t you rather know where babies come from?” Korra asked them.

“Korra!” Asami exclaimed.

“No, we already know that.” Miyabi informed them.

All three parents were shocked at this news. “Mako!” Both women exclaimed.

“I didn’t tell them!” Mako defended himself.

“No, but I told you to clear your browser history before they come over! Miyabi already knows her way around the computer enough to get through the child safety settings.” Asami scolded.

“It wasn’t daddy or the computer. Uncle Bo told us.” Katek assured them.

“Wait, what?” Korra asked.

“Yeah, we were in the park and these dogs were acting really weird.” Miyabi started, making a face.

“So we asked Uncle Bo what they were doing. He said it was a special hug that only grown ups do.” Katek explained.

“Mhm. And then we asked why they were doing a special hug like that. He didn’t want to answer at first but then he said that’s how babies are made.” Miyabi said.

“Why don’t we live together?” Katek asked again.

Mako looked like he was going to turn around and leave. “No you don’t.” Korra told him and blocked his path. She pushed him onto the couch. “You made this mess, you’re helping answer this question. Girls, why don’t you sit?” Korra asked them gently.

As everyone sat down, Asami started. “Well, you know how Uncle Bo and Aunt Opal are married?” The two had been married for a little over a year by this point. The girls were of course the flower girls in the ceremony.

“Uh huh.” Both girls answered.

“Well, they are in love. So they dated for many years and then got married. Someday, they might have a baby together too.” Korra helped along the conversation.

“You’re not answering the question.” Miyabi said.

“We are, we promise, just listen. So, your daddy and I used to be married, because we were in love. Then we had you.” Asami said and poked Miyabi in the nose. She giggled.

“But, your daddy and I were also in love, and six months later, we had you.” Korra said, doing the same thing to Katek, who also giggled.

“I wasn’t very nice to either of your mommies.” Mako finally said. “See, Asami and I had agreed that we would only love each other, since we were married. But, I fell in love with Korra too. That’s when both of your mommies decided that they didn’t want to be in a romantic relationship with me anymore.”

“It’s ok to be in love with more than one person, but you all have to agree to that. Your mommies wanted daddy and we didn’t want to share with each other.” Korra chimed in.

The girls looked confused still. “What’s a romantic mean?” Katek asked.

“We all love you both very much. But being in love with someone is different. Like Aunt Opal and Uncle Bo, they’re in love with each other. You know how they kiss all the time? And say cheesy things to each other?” Asami said.

“Ew. Yes.” Katek said.

“It’s gross.” Miyabi agreed. Both girls had scrunched their faces.

“Those gross things are romantic. Adults like that stuff. When people are in love, they are romantic with each other. We both felt that way about your daddy and your daddy felt that way about us.” Korra said.

“I don’t get it.” Miyabi said. She looked to Katek who shrugged.

“Adults usually live together when they are in love with each other or in a romantic relationship. The three of us are friends now, but we don’t kiss or anything. So because of that, we all live in separate places.” Asami said.

“Why can’t you all just fall in love again so we can all live together?” Katek asked.

The adults laughed. “What?” Katek looked to Miyabi, equally confused.

“Why not?” Miyabi said.

“We love you two, but the three of us adults need to stay friends. And we need to have separate houses. We are sorry, girls. We know it doesn’t make sense now, but it will when you’re older, we promise.” Asami said to them.

“This isn’t fair! Just because daddy was in love with both of you means I can’t live with my sister?” Miyabi asked.

“Well, that’s not really what it would be, anyway. I would live with one of your mom’s if I were still in love with one of them. For you two to live together, your moms would need to, uh, be, uh, together.” Mako stumbled.

Korra laughed, this was turning into quite the conversation. Sex, the parenting squad dynamic, infidelity, polyamory, and now same sex relationships were all going to get some talk time. 

The girls just stared at them. None of the adults knew what the look on the girl’s faces meant in that moment though. “Well?” Katek asked them.

“Well, what?” Korra asked.

“Well, why don’t you two live together so we can live together? Why can’t you fall in love and be romance and gross stuff?” Miyabi asked.

Korra and Asami looked at each other. Korra was bi, but she had no idea about the other woman. Even so, Korra would rather chew glass than pursue a relationship with Asami. That was a lose-lose situation for everyone. She knew the woman was physically attractive, and so was Korra, but they weren’t even really friends, let alone anything more. There were also aspects of Asami that Korra couldn’t stand.

“Because we are just friends.” Asami said gently. Korra was glad she was being polite. She’s not sure she would have managed a better answer.

“Girls can like other girls that way, though. And boys can like boys that way. That’s perfectly fine. But Asami and I don’t feel that way about each other.” Korra explained.

Mako gave it a moment or two before he spoke again. “Are we done here then? I had a great weekend girls. I’ll see you both soon, ok? I love you both very much.” Mako said to them and went up to hug them. He was ending the conversation before it got any weirder.

They both mumbled little ‘I love yous’ and Mako left. “Are you ready to go?” Korra asked Katek.

“No.” Katek answered.

“I’m sorry honey. I know you love your sister. We promise to make sure that you two get to see each other as much as possible.” Korra said.

Katek didn’t answer. She just got up, hugged her sister, hugged Asami, took Korra’s hand, and made for the door. Korra caught Asami’s eyes one last time. They both were thinking the same thing. They felt awful for disappointing their daughters so much.


	6. Furry Surprises

** Asami **

The girls were now seven. They were as happy and precocious as ever. The parenting squad was going strong. They all had their roles and managed fairly well. Asami had brought Future Industries back from its grave and it was more successful than ever. Somehow, she still made sure she was there for Miyabi and Katek.

Asami was there for every dance recital, every soccer match, and every parent teacher night. And so were Mako and Korra, because their offspring decided long ago that they were doing everything together. Katek didn’t like the ballet classes, but she did them anyway because it made Miyabi happy. Miyabi was decent at soccer, but it wasn’t her favorite, she went to spend time with Katek, who needed to run off the energy. They both wanted to do karate, and Asami was more than ok with that.

Asami went over to Korra’s to pickup Miyabi one evening. She knocked on the door and was greeted with a sound that scared her. It was a bark. Asami’s eyes went wide and she took a step back from the door. There was more barking. She didn’t dislike animals, but she had never been allowed to have one growing up. Her father was allergic to all pet dander and couldn’t be bothered to look after his daughter, let alone a pet.

Asami heard Korra come to the door and say, “Naga, sit.” The barking stopped immediately. “Naga, stay.” And then Korra opened the door.

Naga did not stay. The next thing Asami knew, there was a dog jumping on her, high enough to lick her face.

“Naga, sit.” Korra said. The dog didn’t listen. It was too excited.

“Korra. Why do you have a dog?” Asami asked calmly.

“She’s so cool, mom!” Miyabi yelled and came running.

“This is Naga!” Katek proudly proclaimed.

“Uh, yeah. So I found this poor thing wondering around on a call I had. She was covered in fleas and ticks and was so thirsty. She came right up to me though. No one in the neighborhood knew where she came from. I took her to the vet, got her checked out. She’s not mircrochipped, so unless someone comes to claim her, I’m going to keep her.” Korra exclaimed.

“She’s so snuggly! I just love her, mom.” Miyabi announced.

“Well she’s your dog too!” Katek said.

“Yes, when you’re over here, she’s your dog, too. She’s going to live here though, she’s not going to go with you both to everyone’s houses.” Korra explained.

Asami felt relief wash over her. They didn’t have anything about pets in the parenting contract. That would need to change apparently.

She looked over the dog, which had calmed down a bit, now that she knew who Asami was. She ran back and played with the girls, chasing them around. Asami thought she was pretty cute. She was all white and her paws were massive. She was going to be huge.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t just leave her. Once she was all cleaned up, she just fell asleep on the ride home, curled up in my lap. It was so adorable. I’m going to train her and she’ll be great. She’s really smart. She’s already learned her name and how to sit and it’s only been a few days.” Korra explained.

Asami looked to the other woman, she was almost like a puppy herself. It was the first time she had ever found Korra endearing. “It’s fine, I’m just not used to dogs. I’m sure you’ll do great training her. If she’s well behaved, maybe she can come over to play in the yard sometime.”

“That would be great, Asami. I’ll clean up after her and everything.” Korra said.

Asami stopped herself from laughing. As her and Miyabi left, she wondered if Korra was just a kid that never really grew up.


	7. Naga the Police Dog

**Korra**

Korra was so proud of herself, but even more proud of Naga. After a year’s hard work, she was full member of the K-9 unit. The girls, Asami, and Mako all came to her induction ceremony. The girls had made signs to show their love for their dog.

At one year old, at least they thought she was about one, considering she was such a puppy when Korra found her, she was huge. The vet didn’t know what breed she was, and when Korra ordered one of those breed tests online, it came back with hardly any answers. She had distant traces of Great Dane, husky, German shepherd, Labrador, and malamute, to name a few, but those were all very distant genetically. Her most recent relatives all just said “mixed breed” on the chart. Korra was disappointed, but not with Naga. She didn’t care what breed the dog was. She was fine with “huge and white.”

Korra brought her everywhere she could. She had to convince the girls not to ride her. That was a tough conversation. But otherwise, the three of them were as thick as thieves. The girls always remembered to feed her and always helped when it was time to take her out. They even helped brush her every night.

Korra had never been happier. She had always wanted a dog, but she had never thought about doing anything other than the SWAT team. She now split her duties between SWAT and K-9. The K-9 unit was amazing. She loved the work there, almost as much as when she was on a SWAT call. And Naga loved it too. She even came out on SWAT calls sometimes, depending on the situation. Korra loved dressing her up in the vest and armor, Naga always looked so pleased with herself.

Naga had been trained for a few specific tasks, but was skilled at a lot of things. She could subdue suspects that were running, she had some training as a rescue dog, but most importantly, she could sniff out USB drives and computers. Naga was also an unofficial therapy dog. She was so gentle with the girls that she learned to be good with other kids as well. She was a comfort to a lot of children that had traumatic situations happen.

The only thing missing in Korra’s life was a romantic partner. She had to admit it to herself finally: she was lonely without someone. She had some flings over the years and a few relationships too, but nothing that lasted. She had never found anyone that she wanted to bring to the firing squad for approval.

She had tried earnestly when the girls were younger. Korra was very good at picking people up, and she was still young, so she slept around a lot during the early years. The few relationships she had were a disaster though. None of them could understand her work schedule or parenting schedule. To top it off, once she explained the parenting squad to those few that might make the cut, they left. It was too much for most people.

After she got Naga, Korra stopped searching and sleeping around for a while. It took a lot of her time to train the dog. But after a few years with Naga, the girls were almost ten. Korra thought she might be ready to go back on the market soon. But she was older and wasn’t sure where to go looking for people, without looking like a creep or a cougar.

She knew Mako’s dating record wasn’t any better. They were good enough friends now that they talked about those sorts of things. She had no idea how Asami was doing with dating. She doubted the woman was very fun on a date. Unless she was with the girls, she was always so serious. 

Korra’s opinion of her had changed over the years. She had a deep respect for the woman now, sure. She was a great mom and she trusted her with her child’s life, and by proxy her own. But they weren’t friends. She still thought Asami was stuck up. Korra still thought she flaunted her money around. Almost rubbed it in Korra’s face at times. Korra felt that Asami ever so slightly looked down on Korra because she wasn’t from the right background. And Korra couldn’t stress enough that Asami was too serious.

Korra didn’t really care, she was just glad that the dynamic between the adults wasn’t transferred to the girls.

“Katek! Hurry up! We’re going to be late!” Korra called after her daughter.

“I know, but I’m trying to find a book I promised to lend to Miyabi!” Katek yelled from the other room.

Korra was trying to get her daughter ready for a sleepover at the Sato household. It was the usual weekend routine. Korra still didn’t like going over there, but they were there several times a week or Asami was over at their place.

“Found it!” Katek said as she ran into the room, holding the book up triumphantly. She had her backpack as well and was ready to go.

“Ok, so you remember what we talked about, right?” Korra asked.

“Yes. Don’t touch anything without asking. Listen to Asami. Chew with my mouth closed.” Katek recited.

“Good, because I can’t afford for you to break anything over there. Again. Now let’s go!” Korra said. Her daughter and Naga both ran to climb into the car. Korra just watched Katek for a second, wondering where the years had gone. It seemed like yesterday she was changing diapers.

They drove the few minutes it took to get to the other household and Katek chattered the whole way there. They arrived at the door and Katek knocked and then ran inside. Korra and Naga politely waited on the doorstep, not having the same privileges as her daughter. Miyabi and Asami did the same thing at their house. Miyabi would run in and find Katek and Naga and Asami would wait for Korra to welcome her in.

“Hello, Korra, come on in.” Asami said as she sauntered up to the door.

“Thanks, Asami. How are you?” Korra asked.

“Oh just fine, swamped at work, as usual. But glad that I could have the girls here this weekend. They’ve already got our weekend planned. Or at least, Miyabi does and Katek goes along with it.”

Korra laughed. “That’s our girls. She takes after you a lot, doesn’t she?”

“So much that it’s scary. I mean, I know Mako is in there too, but…” Asami started.

“But sometimes it’s like, did he really do anything? Did he really add anything to this human being?” Korra finished for her.

“Yes! Exactly! You feel the same with Katek, then?”

“Oh, yes. Very much so. Well thanks for taking Katek, she’s really excited. Call me if you need anything, ok?” Korra said.

“Of course, and it’s no problem. I have more than enough room for them to run around.” Asami said. Korra tried not to make a face at this. There it was, the poke at Korra’s lack of riches. “We’ll see you on Sunday.”

“See you.” Korra said and led Naga out the door. They got back in her car and made the way to their own apartment. Korra was eager to watch adult TV for a few hours before deciding what to do with the rest of her weekend.


	8. Noodles

** Asami **

Asami had a great weekend with the girls, but was exhausted from chasing them around all weekend. They had gone to one of those indoor playgrounds on Saturday. It had a ball pit and giant inflatable slide, that sort of thing. They ate terrible pizza and Asami watched them run their energy out. They were adorable together. Two little peas in a pod.

Asami knew that they didn’t have much time left of the girls being like this. Sweet and cute, rather than moody and hormonal. She tried her best to savor these times. Still, when Korra came to get Katek, she was relieved. She loved the little girl, as much as her own daughter even, but it was nice to have a break from the two of them.

“Mom, what’s for dinner?” Miyabi asked her a little while after Katek had left.

“Hhhmm, I don’t know sweetie, what do you feel like?” Asami asked. She was busy with a financial report from work, but she knew her child would need to eat soon. She probably did too.

“Can we get noodles?” Miyabi asked. “And then ice cream?” The pout on her face was adorable.

Asami laughed at the exuberance of her daughter. “That sounds perfect. Give me ten more minutes and we will go. Is all your homework done?”

“Yes, I finished it before Katek even came over. You said I had to.” Miyabi shrugged.

“That I did.” Asami looked at her daughter again and was unable to say no to that look. “Ok, I can do this later. Let’s go now.”

“Yes! To Narook’s!” Miyabi yelled and ran to put her shoes on.

They arrived at the restaurant and when they walked in, Asami saw two familiar profiles. She shouldn’t have been surprised.

“Oh, hey.” Asami said to Korra and Katek, who were waiting for a table.

“Asami!” Katek greeted and lunged to hug her.

“Hello, I missed you too. You’ve only been gone, what, an hour?” Asami teased her.

“Did you two plan this?” Korra asked, letting go of Miyabi who had also hugged her.

“Nope.” Miyabi answered.

“Never.” Katek said.

“How many in your party?” The hostess asked them.

Asami sighed. “Party of four.”

* * *

** Korra **

Korra had a productive and simultaneously lazy weekend without the girls. Since she had been with the RCPD for so many years now, she was usually able to get weekends off from work. She got all of the laundry done, vacuumed, and even did some meal prep. She was able to work out without being interrupted and took Naga for a long walk. She lounged around as much as she wanted, drinking a few beers in the process. It was a great weekend, by all accounts. But still, Korra felt empty. She hated these weekends. She hated being without Katek. Korra hated being alone.

She had thought about calling Opal, see if the girl wanted to go out, but decided against it. As much as Mako was her friend now, she still knew that calling Opal meant Bolin tagging along and that meant Mako as well. So Korra opted for solitude. She tried to convince herself it was ok.

They had a nice rotation of weekends for the girls. One weekend at Korra’s, one weekend at Asami’s, and the next weekend at Mako’s. Every once in a while, Bolin and Opal would take them. There were weeknights where they spent the night too, but mostly they just stayed over after school until dinner. Depending on the work schedule, one of the parents would pick them up from school; they would stay at that parent’s house for a few hours, and then go home to their respective mother’s houses for dinner and sleep.

It wasn’t a bad system, but it was confusing. Korra was glad that Asami took that part over. Korra would’ve failed if she had been tasked with that. It was much easier to let Asami take control and tell Korra when she had the girls. It was the same thing with the parenting contract all those years ago. Asami took that over and Mako and Korra let her. She was good at those things and Mako and Korra were definitely not.

When Korra picked Katek back up at the end of the weekend, she was so glad to see her. She never realized how much she missed her until her daughter was back. And it was the same when Korra went too long without seeing Miyabi too.

“Are you hungry? What do you want for dinner, kiddo?” Korra asked as they got into the car.

“Noodles and ice cream!” Katek exclaimed.

“Well, I think we can make that happen. Let’s go home first though so we can drop Naga off.” Korra told her.

They drove and Katek told her all about the weekend. Korra listened, but she was also lost in thought. How would she ever find someone to spend her life with that would be able to fit into their weird little situation?

“Mom! You missed the turn!” Katek said.

Korra was jolted back to reality. “Oops. Sorry. Narook’s here we come!” Korra said as they did a quick u-turn in traffic.

When Asami and Miyabi walked into Narook’s, Korra was overjoyed to see the girl again. She loved watching the two girls together. She could sit through a meal with Asami for that. She had done it before and she would probably do it again many times.

Korra heard Asami say, “Party of four,” and the hostess led them to a table.

The girls told them both about their weekend, even though Asami had been there for all of it and Korra had already heard it in the car. They also told them all about school for the coming week. Miyabi liked science and math, but Katek liked PE and history. Korra was glad that the two girls helped each other at their weaker subjects. Korra was also glad that Asami understood all the math and science stuff, so she could help them both. They had all given up asking Mako for homework help years ago. Until the girls were doing investigative work, he wouldn’t be able to help much. The girls also announced that they wanted to join band next year.

When the bill came, Asami stole it before Korra could even try. “Asami.” Korra grumbled.

“Korra, just let me get it. Please?” Asami said.

“I can pay for myself.” Korra said in a calm voice.

“I know you can. That’s not the point. Why don’t you get the ice cream?” Asami suggested.

“Fine. Thank you, Asami.” Korra mumbled. “Katek?”

“Thank you for dinner, Asami.” Katek said.

“Of course, sweetie.” Asami said with a smile. Korra grumbled the rest of the night.


	9. A Night Out

** Asami **

The next weekend, Mako had the girls, so Asami had time to herself. Instead of a quiet evening at home, she was forced to go out for drinks with her friends. Apparently, Asami’s friends had spied on the parenting squad Google calendar to make sure she was free.

“Asami! I see you’re free tonight.” Ginger said on the phone.

“How did you know?” Asami asked. Rolling her eyes at her friend, even though she couldn’t see her through the phone.

“Oh, please. You gave us that link to the parenting calendar years ago. Listen, we are all going out to the club, and you’re coming with us.”

Asami looked down at herself. She had just changed into sweats and had taken off her makeup for the evening. She was thinking about what to do for the rest of the night, but she knew she would probably just drink half a glass of wine and pass out in front of the TV.

“I don’t know Ginger…”

“Asami. I mean this in the nicest way, but when was the last time you got laid? Man or woman?”

Asami sighed. She had a point. “Fine. Text me the time and place.”

So there Asami was with her three best queer friends. Well, they were probably her only friends, if she were honest. And “friends” was probably too strong of a word. Regardless, the three were Ginger, Ming, and June. The women were either bi or lesbian and had brought Asami into their group many years ago, when they saw Asami looking terrified at her first lesbian bar.

Asami wanted to be with someone again, but she didn’t want to waste her time anymore. She wasn’t interested in one-night stands or casual sex. No, Asami wanted a partner for life. She wanted someone that understood her, her work, and her devotion to the girls. She knew it was a tall order, but Asami was done settling. She had settled when she married Mako. She wasn’t going to do it again.

Her friends tried to get her to hit on various women at the club, but Asami just didn’t have the energy tonight. Several girls approached her, she knew she was good looking, but she turned them all down. Her friends were usually happy with her leftovers though. Sometimes Asami wondered if that was the only reason they called her to go out.

She had been just about to call it a night, but instead, she spotted a familiar figure walking toward her. Someone she saw on an almost daily basis, but she had never seen in a place like this.


	10. Bisexual Surprises

** Korra **

Korra decided this weekend that she wasn’t going to waste her free time without the girls. She was done being miserable. She put on her best clubbing outfit and decided to hit the town. Maybe she could get laid. It had been a few years. Korra could pickup anyone she wanted on most nights.

She tried a few regular clubs, but decided she wasn’t in the mood for men, especially the types that hung out at the clubs. So Korra went to the nearest lesbian bar. She walked in and ordered a drink. Korra flirted with the bartender a little, which was never a bad idea, but the woman wasn’t playing along tonight. She took her drink and turned her back to the bar, leaning against it. She gazed around the room, looking for someone who caught her fancy. Korra’s heart just wasn’t in it, even if her crotch was.

To her surprise, she looked to a table in the corner and saw a group of women that included a certain mom that she saw almost daily. She laughed to herself. Well, if she wasn’t going to go after anyone, she might as well see what Asami was doing there.

Korra swaggered over to the table the women were at. As she approached, Asami’s three companions eyed her up and down. _Still got it,_ Korra thought to herself. When Asami saw her, the woman’s jaw dropped. Korra turned her head up and just laughed.

“What’s a classy girl like you doing in a place like this?” Korra asked her.

“I could ask you the same thing, minus the classy part.” Asami said with a smile.

“But really. Why are you here?” Korra asked her.

“Asami, are you going to introduce us to your cute friend?” One of the women interrupted.

“Oh, this isn’t, we’re not really…” Asami sighed. “This is Korra. Korra, these are my friends: Ginger, Ming, and June.”

“Korra? You mean _the_ Korra? Your baby daddy’s baby mommy, Korra? You never said she was so hot.” The woman Korra thought was named Ming said.

“Nice to meet you ladies. I’m flattered by the way.” Korra said, winking to the cutest of them, who blushed. _This night might not be a waste after all._

“When my friends heard the girls were with Mako for the weekend, they all decided that it had been too long since I had any fun. So here I am. Out for drinks. Having fun.” Asami informed her. Korra could tell Asami was lying about the fun part. Korra wondered when the last time Asami had fun that didn’t involve the girls. Of course, Korra didn’t have fun without the girls much either.

“You’re welcome to join us, Korra.” The cutest of the women said in a singsong voice. Korra thought her name was Ginger.

“Oh, I don’t think…” Asami tried to say.

“I would love to, thank you. Funnily enough, I had the same thought about my evening that you all did. Thought I might hit the town since I’m childfree. However, I came here stag.” Korra said, staring right at the cute one again.

“Oh? We might have to fix that. You don’t have to go home stag.” She said.

“Ginger!” Asami scolded. _Ah, so I was right on the name._

“What? It’s not a crime to flirt with people, Asami.” Ginger said.

Korra had pulled up a chair and joined the conversation. She had a great time. It was fun to flirt with the women, Korra felt very out of practice, but these girls hung on her every word. It was a nice ego boost. And she wouldn’t say no to Ginger, if she truly were interested in some fun later.

It was also fun to watch Asami’s obvious distaste for Korra’s blatant pickup lines on the women. She thought Asami had rolled her eyes so many times that they may never come back down from her skull. After a while, Korra was saying things just to get a reaction from the woman.

“Korra, let’s go dance.” Ginger said. The rest of the women had started toward the dance floor, except for Asami. Korra thought about it for a moment, but decided that she didn’t have to dance to impress Ginger. The woman still wanted her, dancing or not.

“Nah, I’m going stay and keep Asami company.” Korra said.

“Suit yourself.” Ginger said. “I’ll be sure to catch up with you later though.” Korra winked at her again.

“You didn’t need to do that. I’m perfectly fine sitting alone. You can go flirt with them some more.” Asami said.

“Not a problem, honestly, I was never one for dancing. I mean, I would do it if it meant getting laid, but it’s not my favorite thing.” Korra said.

Asami laughed. There was a brief pause. “So…” Asami started.

“So…are we going to address the elephant rat in the room then?” Korra asked.

“Might as well.” Asami took a swig of her drink.

“Well, I’m bi. You?”

“Same.”

“Huh. All these years and I never knew. We really don’t talk a lot unless it’s about the kids, do we?”

“Nope. We don’t. How long have you known you were bi? Does Mako know?”

Korra snorted, “Oh yes, Mako knows. But in answer to your first question, all my life. I never really saw a reason to label myself anything. I always knew, but it was really once I hit puberty that I understood what it all meant. We just didn’t have a lot of queer people in the south at all, so I definitely didn’t get a chance to act on anything until I moved to Republic City. You?”

“Well, I’m not really sure. I mean, I always thought women were attractive. But, I never thought about them much in that way. My father, horrible man that he is, was controlling. Not just with dating, but with friends too. If I had a friend that he didn’t approve of, or if he didn’t approve of their parents, that was it. So dating was just the same. The boys had to be preapproved. Had to be from a certain stock. And he made sure I knew that men were the only option in his eyes.”

“That’s horrible. Wait, then how did you marry Mako? He’s an orphan and definitely didn’t have a lot of money.”

“Oh, yes. That’s a whole story. I was fresh out of university and of course I was working for daddy at the time.” Asami’s tone had malice in it at the mention of her father. “I felt the need to prove myself, prove I was someone other than the boss’s daughter, so I really didn’t have time for dating. I had a few flings in college, but nothing serious, certainly no women yet. I wasn’t out of my shell at all. It took me a while to adjust to life on my own, to be quite honest. But anyway, I ran into Mako when I was driving my moped. He didn’t look where he was going and just walked right into traffic! That’s how we met.”

“Shut up, I’ve never heard that story.” Korra said, laughing heartily. “Oh, he’s such a dumbass.”

“Yes, yes he is. It’s true though! That’s what happened! Anyway, to apologize, I bought him dinner. This took him aback, he is so old fashioned in some ways, couldn’t believe the woman was going to pay for dinner, but he accepted. I thought he was cute. And he was really nice. So we started dating.” Asami said.

“Ok, I know he’s the thing we have in common, plus the girls, but really, how does all of this have to do with you figuring out you like women?”

“I’m getting to that. So, at first, my father was fine with Mako. He was still a beat cop at the time, so it wasn’t too prestigious, but I guess it was enough for Hiroshi. Mako had a job at least, knew how to act around my father, and he could rise through the ranks and make something of himself if he wanted. And something about him making his own way, raising Bolin at the same time, was something Hiroshi could admire. So for a while my father turned a blind eye to his lack of…everything.”

“Uh huh. So when did that eye stop being so blind?”

“We had been together for about two years, I was twenty-four. See, the other thing I should probably mention is that I have a trust fund.”

Korra rolled her eyes. “Of course you do.”

“Shut up. Yes, my dad set it up to be released to me once I married or turned twenty-five, whichever came first. But, it was around then that he was trying to set me up with someone else.”

“You’re kidding!”

“I wish. Guy named Iroh. He’s actually the Fire Lord’s son. He’s in the United Forces, a real hotshot. I think he’s a general now. But I told my dad no, I was happy with Mako. My dad kept hinting that he would change the stipulations of my trust fund if I didn’t cooperate and at least go on a date with Iroh.”

“Wait, he tried to hook you up with royalty? No offense, but you turned that down? And for Mako?”

“Yes, I was in a loving, committed relationship. Or at least, we were getting serious. Mako had just made junior detective, so he had a little money saved up. We talked about things and decided to go for it. He bought me a ring, we eloped the next day, and we took a weeklong honeymoon on Ember Island. My dad’s idol threats were done. The trust fund was mine. I bought a house and basically told him to fuck off. We were polite at work, but from then on out he wasn’t my father, he was Hiroshi.” Asami finished. She downed the rest of her drink.

“Holy shit, Asami. I never knew you had the balls to do something like that.” Korra admitted, shaking her head.

“You assumed I was a spoiled heiress.”

“Yes. Until the girls became friends, I had no reason to think otherwise. But when I saw how good of a mother you were, and the fact that you were so hands on, not leaving things up to a staff of people, like I assumed you would, I changed my mind a little. I was honestly shocked when you put Miyabi into daycare, rather than hiring a nanny.”

“I thought about it, that was for sure. But in the end, I thought it would be better for her to be socialized. I was raised by the staff, and believe me, it wasn’t fun. I’m glad with the decisions I’ve made concerning her.”

“You’re a great mom, Asami.”

“You are too, Korra.”

Korra blushed and mumbled, “thank you.”

“But back to the topic: women.” Asami said. Korra laughed again. “So fast forward a little, here I am with an ex-husband, an infant, a company I wasn’t ready to take control of, and to top it all off there you were with Katek.”

“Sorry.” Korra mumbled again.

“It’s water under the bridge, Korra. Are you still upset about things with Mako?”

“No way. I’m so glad I dodged that bullet. I think we would have murdered each other if we had stayed a couple.”

“And I’m glad I dodged it too. Honestly, we weren’t happy. I married him to piss off my father, but at the time I thought it was true love. We were swept away in the moment and it was fun. Oh, to be young and naïve again.”

“Tell me about it.”

“But, even if you hadn’t come along, I mean, we might have popped out a few more kids, but other than that, it would’ve ended in divorce. I just wanted someone and he was good enough. He liked the idea of me, but he never really saw me for who I was.”

“I know exactly what you mean. That’s half the shit we used to fight about. He would always try and do things men are supposed to do for women, like open the door for me. Sure, it’s nice, I get it, but I’m not a helpless damsel of some sort! And that’s how he always treated me. Like I needed protecting, needed saving. We have done enough training together at work that I know I can kick his ass; I’d be the one protecting him, if anything. He put me on a damn pedestal. Even in…well we don’t need to talk about that. But it was in all facets of our relationship.” Korra said.

This time, Asami laughed. Korra liked the sound of it. It was pleasant, easy. “I know exactly what you mean, Korra. I had only had sex with a few other guys before Mako and none of them were spectacular. So the fact that Mako was attentive was a real change. But once we were divorced, I started exploring what was really out there.” Asami admitted.

“Asami Sato, do you mean to tell me you’re a little bit slutty?”

“I definitely had my moments when the girls were younger. I finally understood what good sex was. I had a few hookups over the years, a few relationships, and this is when I started seeing women. It took me being so stressed out from my job that I needed a release of some sort. And apparently, women are a little bit better at understanding that sometimes.”

Korra was rolling with laughter by this point. “I just never pictured any of this from you.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’ve said that before. Get over it.” Asami said, but laughed a little too.

“So, your friends…?”

“No, I’ve never been interested in any of those three. I met them when I started hooking up with women. They were already a friend group and somehow I just fit right in. They took me under their wings, so to speak. I don’t see them often, but they make me go out every once in a while.”

“So, you’re not going to be offended if I hook up with Ginger?”

“No, of course not. Why would I be offended?”

“I dunno. Just checking.” Korra asked. But she had a strange feeling all of the sudden. She didn’t know what it was. It was probably just the alcohol catching up to her.


	11. For a Good Time, Call Ginger

** Asami **

Despite her misgivings, Asami was having a great time talking with Korra. They cleared the air about Mako and talked about their mutual attraction to women. They really talked for the first time, actually getting to know each other. It was fun.

“I can’t believe you had a threesome with Mako. And I can’t believe no one told me about this!” Asami said.

“Well, yeah. I mean, why would either of us tell you? It was right after I made the SWAT team; I think the girls were like two or three? I can’t remember. He had been seeing some girl for a little while, she was bi, but had never had a threesome, and she really wanted to try it. So, he asked if I would be willing.” Korra said, shrugging her shoulders.

“I didn’t even know he had been dating anyone.” Asami admitted.

“Well, she obviously didn’t last. And besides, by that point, we had made our contract. They never even reached the point to where she would be considered for the parenting squad. She was young too, like nineteen or something. I think she liked that he was older and a detective, but that was about it.” Korra said.

“What was it like?” Asami couldn’t help herself, she wanted to know.

“Honestly? It was Mako and a nineteen-year-old girl. What do you think?”

“That bad?”

“I’ve had worse. But she had never been with a girl before. I’m fine breaking them in, but to do that with Mako around too? She was a decent kisser, though. Mako had a great time. They asked me back again, but I declined.”

“Can’t blame you there. So, you’ve never brought anyone to the parenting squad? Why not?” Asami asked.

“Well, why haven’t you?” Korra asked.

Asami laughed at this. “Fair point. It’s either just hookups or…”

“Or once they understand the situation they run away?” Korra finished.

“Exactly.”

“Same here. I dated this girl for a while, another cop. She’s a bit older. She’s actually Opal’s adopted sister.”

“No! You dated Kuvira?”

“Yup. Well, it was going well for a while. And she wasn’t scared off by the thought of the parenting squad at all. But she didn’t like kids. She would get mad if something came up with the girls and I had to go.”

“Ugh. That’s the worst. I dated a few guys like that. If it wasn’t them not understanding because of the kids, they didn’t understand that I would have to leave a date because of my job.”

“Yeah, well since Kuvira was a cop, that part wasn’t a problem. She dumped me eventually. That was fine by me. The sex was good, but it wasn’t really fucking or love making. It was some weird combination of sex and competing for dominance. We were too much alike.” Korra said.

“Korra, I think I’m going to pay my tab. Do you want to get out of here?” Ginger came back from the dance floor.

“Absolutely. If you don’t mind dogs, we can go to my place.” Korra offered.

“Sounds great.” Ginger said and walked off.

“Well, this wasn’t bad.” Korra said to Asami.

“No, I actually had fun, Korra.” Asami admitted.

“Me too. But, I’m going to go get laid now. I suggest you go do the same. The girl at the bar that’s been checking you out isn’t too bad looking.” Korra told her.

“Eh. I think I’ll pass. I’m pretty tired, to be honest.”

“Well, I’ll see you on Sunday then, Asami.” Korra said and walked off.

Asami waved goodbye to her and watched her slip an arm around Ginger’s waist. She had fun. With Korra. But as she watched the two women walk off, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of loneliness and…something else. Asami didn’t know what it was, but she figured it had something to do with Korra.

* * *

** Korra **

Korra had a good time with Ginger. They both got off, a few times, and she wasn’t boring to talk to. Still, Korra didn’t feel the spark that she was looking for. She knew she didn’t want more than sex from the woman. They both agreed to keep it casual, that they could call each other if they were in need of a release. Korra couldn’t guarantee her availability and Ginger respected that. Korra was glad she had chosen someone from Asami’s friend group to sleep with because of that fact. Ginger already knew the complicated arrangements.

After Ginger went home, Korra had a nice Saturday with Naga. They lounged for most of the morning and then ran around the park for several hours in the afternoon. Both of them went home tired that evening. Korra spent most of Sunday cleaning and preparing for the coming week. She went over to Asami’s to get Katek at the prearranged time.

When she pulled up, she didn’t see Mako’s car. Meaning that Korra was either late or early. Either way, she knocked on the door and waited for Asami to answer.

“Hey, come on in. Mako just called, they’re running a little late.” Asami said and waved Korra inside. “No Naga today?”

“No, she was passed out when I left. Figured I’d let her sleep.” Korra answered.

“That’s probably for the best. She gets Miyabi all riled up.” The two laughed at this for a minute. “So how was the rest of your evening? Did you and Ginger have fun?”

“Oh, yeah. Yeah, she was a good time.” Korra said. She didn’t think it was appropriate to elaborate too much.

“That’s it? A good time?”

“Uh, what else do you want me to say? I didn’t think you’d want me to go into the sordid details.”

“No, of course not. I guess I meant, well, are you two going to be more than sex, do you think?” Asami asked. Korra thought this whole conversation was awkward, but she wasn’t sure why. It was one thing to talk about this stuff at the bar with a few drinks, but now they were at Asami’s house, waiting for Mako to bring the girls back.

“Oh! No. She’s nice, but she’s really not my type. We might have some more fun again, but we agreed to keep it at that.” Korra said.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“Well, if she’s not your type, then who is? I mean, she’s funny, sexy, and pretty interesting. What’s not to like?”

“I dunno, Asami. I hadn’t really thought about it before. I just didn’t feel that spark. We got off, and she left the next morning. It was good enough that I would do it again. But date her? No. I don’t really know who I want to date, to be honest.”

Before Asami could say anything in response, Mako pulled up. Korra left the Sato household feeling weird. It had definitely been an awkward conversation.


	12. Is This Friendship? I Think So

** Asami **

Two weeks later, it was Asami’s turn to have the girls over for the weekend. For some reason, when Sunday rolled around. Asami was anxious. She couldn’t really pinpoint why. The girls were well behaved and Asami was even able to get some work done while they watched movies. When Asami saw Korra pull up, her stomach did a little flip. She cursed under her breath at this. What was happening to her?

Asami opened the door before the woman was at the threshold, and her and Naga stepped inside. The girls collided into her as usual and Korra talked animatedly with them. Naga jumped around greeting everyone. Asami had gotten used to the giant dog, much to her surprise. Korra had done a great job training her that she was welcome in the house as long as she was supervised.

When Katek asked Korra what she did over the weekend, that’s when Asami realized what her anxiety had been about. Korra had a free weekend. She probably called Ginger again. Something about that didn’t sit right with Asami, but she didn’t really know why. She was fine with the two of them hooking up, they were adults. She was fine. Really. So what was it?

Before Asami could think further on this, the trio was leaving. Asami shut the door, only to hear a knock less than five minutes later. They were back.

“Hey, my car won’t start. Do you mind if we wait here while I call a tow truck?” Korra asked her.

“Korra, you don’t need to call a tow truck.”

“Uh, how is my car going to get to the shop if I don’t call a tow truck?”

“I know I may not look it, but I spent my childhood working on cars. My dad invented the Satomobile, remember?” Asami said.

“Oh, yeah. I guess that makes sense. I don’t want to put you out or anything though. I don’t know what’s wrong with it.”

“Please. Just go pop the hood and I’ll be right there with my tools.”

Asami tied her hair back and went to retrieve her toolbox from the garage. She looked under the hood of Korra’s car and was a little shocked it was still running. There was clearly something wrong with it, but it didn’t look like it had an oil change or tune up in a while. Years maybe.

“Korra, when was the last time you had your oil changed?” Asami asked slowly.

“Um, I dunno. What does the sticker say?” Korra said.

Asami went to look at the little sticker the oil change place puts on the windshield. It was two years old. “Korra!”

“W-what?”

“You can’t go two years without an oil change!”

“Oh. Well, I really just drive in the city. I thought it was fine.”

“Ugh. And this thing is in need of a tune up too. But I think your problem is the starter.”

“Great. So, what do I do?”

“Well, we are all going to hop into my car, take Naga home, and then we are going to the auto parts store.”

“Asami, it’s a Sunday night. I can’t ask you to do that.”

“What are you supposed to do without a car?” Asami asked. Korra didn’t have an answer.

So they spent the next few hours as Asami described. They dropped off Naga so she would be out of the way. Asami also didn’t really want her in the car for a long period of time, but she didn’t mention that to Korra. The four of them then went to the auto parts store and Asami told the man what she needed while Korra paid. The girls ran around the store and asked a million questions.

Once they were back at the house, Asami put Korra’s car in neutral and helped steer while Korra pushed it into the garage for Asami to start work. Korra ordered pizza for all of them for dinner. After eating, Asami went to work.

Asami had to give her credit; Korra stayed the whole time and tried to understand what was going on. She even did some of the work under Asami’s supervision. A few hours later, Korra started up the car. It roared to life.

“Holy shit, Asami. You’re amazing! This thing sounds better than it ever has!” Korra exclaimed. Then she did something the two had never done before. Korra pulled Asami in for a hug.

“It’s not a big deal. But you’re welcome.” Asami said. She knew in that embrace, that something was wrong. Something was wrong, because something about the embrace felt right to Asami. It felt good. Too good.

“Seriously, thank you. What do I owe you?” Korra asked.

“Owe me?”

“Um, yeah. A car repair place would have charged me three times what I just spent on parts. I can’t let you do that for free. I don’t care how much money you already have.”

“Oh. How about you just bring us dinner one night next weekend? When Mako has the girls?” Asami wasn’t sure of the words that had come out of her mouth. _Did I just say that?_

“Ha, done. This is amazing. You’re the best. Alright, let me find that child of mine and we will finally get out of your hair.”


	13. More Bonding, More Awkward

** **

** Korra **

The more Korra thought about it, the more nervous she was to bring dinner over to Asami’s house. Just the two of them. It would be weird. She brought over some beer as well, so that the awkwardness was minimized, but she didn’t know what to expect otherwise.

“Hey, welcome.” Asami said as she opened the door. Naga bounded in, looking for the girls. She was happy to see Asami, but Korra knew that it wasn’t the same as her favorite playmates.

“Thanks” Korra said. She watched Naga bounce around and then pout. “Sometimes I think I should send Naga with the girls, you know? But I can’t imagine poor Mako trying to wrangle all three of them.”

Asami laughed as she took the beer from Korra’s hands and led her into the kitchen to set down the food. “I would pay to see that!”

Korra had forgotten how nice Asami’s laugh was. Especially when it was so genuine like it was just then. Korra shook off this thought though. “Yeah, if I do have to go somewhere out of town and can’t bring her, Bolin and Opal usually watch her. She loves Bolin. Opal is really good with her too.”

“That’s good. Do you think they’re ever going to have kids?” Asami asked.

“I think Bolin said they were going to start trying soon, but I didn’t want to pry.”

“Oh, that’s so exciting. I can’t wait for our girls to have cousins. You don’t have any siblings, right?”

“No, just two creepy twin cousins of my own. And let’s hope they never find anyone unwitting enough to procreate with either of them.” Korra said and Asami laughed again. It felt easy, talking with her. Why had Korra avoided this for so many years? Why had she been nervous?

The two ate, drank, and talked for hours. The subject turned to what most single moms talk about when they let loose: sex.

“Ok, so, worst sex you ever had?” Korra asked.

“Easily my first. He put it in me, it hurt like a bitch, and he didn’t even last two minutes. We were seventeen. It was awful. He passed out right after and I was like, wait, that was it?” Asami answered.

Korra let out a bellow of laughter. “Mine was this guy from when I first moved to the city. Before I started fucking Mako. His name was Tahno. I grew up in the Southern Water Tribe, right? So I was a tad bit naïve about things when I got here. I wasn’t inexperienced, but we went back to his place and we were fooling around a little and I told him that I really didn’t want to have sex that night. I just didn’t want to rush anything. He practically begged me. When I said, no again, he asked if he could just put in the tip, just to see how it feels. Well, I agreed.”

“You didn’t.”

“That’s right. I fell for it. I fell for ‘just the tip.’ And that’s not even the worst part. When he finished, hardly lasted ten minutes by the way, and he stayed in the missionary position the whole time, he turns to me and says, ‘so did I rock your world or what?’”

Asami was in tears from laughing so hard. Korra was right along with her.

“Ok, so best sex you’ve ever had?” Asami ventured.

“This girl I slept with right after Kuvira. She was something else. A real firecracker. Did things with her tongue that I didn’t know were legal. I probably would’ve fallen for her just from the sex alone.”

“Really? So what happened?”

“She gave me a fake number. Never saw her again.”

“People really do that?”

“Yup. It was probably for the best though. I’m going to guess she was a tad crazy. But she was hot enough that I was fine with it. Now you.”

“What? Are you saying I’m crazy or hot?”

Korra laughed. “No, silly. What’s the best sex you’ve ever had?”

“Oh! Duh! Is it totally cliché of me to say the first woman I slept with?”

“No, but it depends on why you’re saying that.”

“Well, I mean, I’ve had other women that were good, probably just as good even. But it was such a life changing experience for me. With most men, I usually had to finish myself after he passed out. Or I would reward him for good effort. Very few men have really been able to make me come. I thought maybe I just didn’t like sex that much. But this woman, mmm, damn. It was like I had been blind to the possibilities my entire life. I didn’t understand what sex could be. After that experience, even the sex I had with men was better. I just, I learned so much, you know?”

“I don’t think that’s cliché at all. I would make a joke about U-Hauling, but I know you obviously didn’t do that.”

“No, we slept together a few more times, but I really wasn’t looking for anything serious. And she didn’t even get as far to be freaked out by the parenting squad, no, she ran as soon as I said I had a child. But I had an epiphany with her. A sexual awakening, if you will. After that, I wanted to go out and live it up.”

“You said you were a little bit slutty.” Korra teased her.

“Only for a few months. Ok, maybe closer to a year. Somewhere in there, I calmed down. I realized that it was fun and all, but hookups weren’t for me.”

“I know what you mean. They can be tiresome after a while.”

“Really? I got the impression that you were very good at them.”

“Oh, I’m great at them. You’ve seen my biceps right? I can go out and get my pick of whomever, whenever. But, maybe I’m just older now. They’re not the same as they used to be. Honestly, the only reason I took Ginger home was because she wasn’t a total bore. I knew that I wouldn’t have to kick her out immediately after fucking. That if we woke up the next morning, we could make small talk over coffee and it wouldn’t be like pulling teeth.”

“Hhmm.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing, never mind.” Asami said. Korra didn’t push it. There was an odd look on Asami’s face that she couldn’t place.

“So, why did you decide hookups weren’t for you?” Korra asked instead.

“I want to care about the person. I want a relationship. The reason that woman was the best I’ve ever had was because it meant so much. Maybe she didn’t mean that much herself, but what we did meant so much to me. If it were just about orgasms, I can get myself off in a fraction of the time and call it a day.”

Korra collapsed in a fit of renewed laughter, Asami right along with her. They talked well past midnight. When Korra finally left, she felt a pang of sadness as her and Naga went back to their empty apartment. She didn’t think it had anything to do with the girls for once.


	14. Texts and Suspicions

**Korra:** Hey Katek wants to have u 2 over 4 board games also making tacos 4 dinner 

**Asami:** Sounds great! be over in 30 

* * *

**Asami:** That movie we were talking about comes out this weekend wanna go see it? 

**Korra:** Duh! Saturday? I work a morning shift, we can get drinks after or something? 

**Asami:** Awesome it’s been 4eva since I’ve seen something in a theater with profanity 

**Korra:** I’ll be sure 2 use extra profanity then 

**Asami:** Shut up! c u then 

* * *

**Korra:** Oh my spirits 

**Korra:** Just watched Mako strike out with a woman from another precinct 

**Asami:** Stooooop pls tell me u got it on video 

**Korra:** Ugh nope didn’t catch it in time but I promise u it was horrible 

**Asami:** so. jealous. 

* * *

**Asami:** the girls are going out for drinks tonight and wanted me to invite u 

**Korra:** Cool let me know time n place 

* * *

**Korra:** new trampoline place opened up – wanna take the girls Friday night? 

**Asami:** yesssss that sounds so fun can we jump too…or is that frowned upon 

**Korra:** I believe we can! 

**Asami:** we are THERE 

* * *

**Asami:** do u wanna come over later? 

**Korra:** sure, have u eaten? I can pick something up 

**Asami:** food sounds amaaaazing pls ty 

**Korra:** c u in a bit then 

* * *

**Korra:** hey hows ur week goin 

**Asami:** ugh awful sorry Ive been swamped at work 

**Korra:** no worries it sounds like u could use a movie and ice cream night with us soon 

**Asami:** oooo yes Im sure Miyabi is on board 

**Korra:** yes they already have the blanket forts planned out 

**Asami:** good I was worried 

**Korra:** 2morow then? 

**Asami:** cant wait 

* * *

  
**  
Asami  
**

Korra and Asami were friends now, and Asami wasn’t really sure how it happened. It had started slow after meeting each other at the bar, but progressed from there. They would hang out alone or with the girls. The four of them would have dinner at one home or the other a few times a week. Asami and Korra spent a lot of the weekend nights together when Mako had the girls. They even went out to dinner just the two of them. A lot of the times they would invite Opal, but more often than not it was just Korra and Asami.

One evening found Asami, Korra, and Opal going to dinner at a new restaurant they had heard about and all wanted to try.

“Is Korra meeting us there?” Opal asked Asami.

“I think so, let me check.” Asami said. She started texting Korra to ask.

“So, you two are friends now.” Opal said.

“Mhm.” Asami said.

“Let me rephrase that: since when are you two friends and how?”

“Oh! That. We just found out we have more in common than we originally thought.”

“Uh huh. That doesn’t actually tell me anything, Asami.”

“Yes, she’s meeting us there. So we can go ahead and go whenever.” Asami started toward the door of her house and grabbed her purse.

“You’re avoiding the question.” Opal said, blocking Asami’s way to the door.

“No, I was just letting you know! I told you, we just happen to get along now.” Asami said. She fumbled under the glare that Opal gave her. “Fine. I went out with my friends…”

“Your gay ones?” Opal asked.

“Yes. The gay ones. So we went out one night, and guess who we saw at the lesbian bar?”

“No.”

“Yup. Korra’s apparently bi, too. She was out looking for a hookup that night.”

“Tell me you didn’t.”

“No! No, of…of course not. We just talked. We got along really well. Korra actually took Ginger home that night.”

“Oooo good for her. You know, I would totally do Ginger if I swung that way.”

“Opal!”

“What? She’s hot. I’d probably do Korra too.”

“I can’t believe you just said that. Back to the matter at hand, I wound up fixing her car one night too and then as a thank you we had dinner together…”

“Oh, so you didn’t sleep with her, you’re just going on dates with her.”

“You’re terrible. I can’t even have a conversation with you.” Asami pushed her aside and walked out the door, heading toward the car.

“I’m sorry! I’ll stop. Ok, so you had dinner and then what?” Opal asked. Asami locked her house and got into the car, Opal piling in after her.

“I guess we started hanging out more. With the girls and without. It’s actually been really nice. She’s not the person I thought she was. She’s so much fun to be around, you know?” Asami admitted.

“I do know. That’s why I hang out with her. Long before you did. Which is why I’m surprised by the sudden change in your attitude toward her. Is it just because you found out she’s bi? Because that wasn’t news to the rest of us. How did you not know?”

“What? No. That doesn’t make any sense. Why would I want to be friends with her suddenly because I found out she’s bi?”

“You tell me. When was the last time you got laid?” Opal looked at her sternly again.

“Why is this an interrogation? I’m trying to tell you the answers to your questions! I don’t want to have a spotlight on me in a small room with a two way mirror!” Asami joked.

“Ok, ok. Tell me about Korra then.”

“We had never just talked like that before. Somehow, since we were at the bar, we talked about all sorts of things we never would have. It was fun. And we’ve been having fun ever since.”

“I still think it’s just because you found out she’s bi. Do you have a crush on her or something?”

“No! No way!” Asami’s voice went high pitched of its own accord.

“That was really convincing.” Opal said.

“I d-don’t. We’re friends. Th-that’s all.”

“Whatever you say, Asami. I’m glad you’re friends now, though. She is a really great person. Maybe next time I try to tell you something, don’t take ten years to listen to me?” Opal said, as they got out of the car at the restaurant they were meeting Korra at.

“Hey guys!” Korra spotted them and was waving them down.

“Whatever you say, just stop now. Please?” Asami whispered to Opal, almost begging her.

Opal rolled her eyes but didn’t bring it up. They had a nice meal together even though Opal kept giving her knowing looks throughout. Even though she disagreed with Opal, at the very least on principle, the woman had made her think. Did she think of Korra in a different way now that she knew Korra liked women? Was there something to that theory? It would certainly explain a few of her strange feelings she’s had recently concerning the woman.

Asami watched Korra the rest of the evening while she thought about the potential truth in Opal’s words.


	15. Katek’s Tenth Birthday

** Mako **

A few weeks went by, and Katek turned ten. They threw a big party in Asami’s backyard and invited all the kids the girls were friends with from school and their parents. Asami had just put in a pool over the winter, so now that the weather was heating up, everyone was eager to go swimming. It was a great day, for almost everyone.

Mako stood across the yard and watched his baby mamas interact. Something was different about them the past few weeks and he didn’t know what. He caught wind of the fact that they had been hanging out. Without the girls. And even with the girls more often.

It was strange. They never got along before now. But here they were, talking and laughing like they had been best friends for years. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. It made him uneasy for some reason. They had all put the past behind them long ago, but still, he knew if they were hanging out that they did what all women do: gossip. And what would be the first thing they would gossip about? The first thing they ever had in common: Mako.

“Hey, Bo. What do you make of this?” Mako said and pointed toward the women.

“Oh! Yeah! Isn’t it great? They’re finally getting along. Opal says they hang out a lot now. Opal has even gone out with them sometimes too.” Bolin answered.

“Huh.”

“What?”

“I just. I don’t know.”

“Do you feel left out?”

“Yeah. Definitely.” That was the feeling. He could always trust his brother to translate his words into feelings for him.

“Well, I know it sucks, but there’s not a lot you can do. You’ve wanted them to get along better for years, so they finally are. You still see the girls a ton and they love you so much. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You’re not going to get cut out.”

That was exactly what Mako was worried about. “Thanks, Bo. You helped a lot.”

“Anytime brother. Hey, after the party Opal and I want to talk to you all.”

“Oh? What about?”

“Can’t tell you. Just wait.”

Mako shrugged and walked off. He went to go talk to some of the other dads he knew about sports and grab another beer. He tried to shake the feeling that the four women in his life were going to leave him behind.

“Daddy! Think fast!” Miyabi yelled and hit him with a water balloon. She had good aim. A lot of the kids laughed at this, including his daughters.

“Oh, don’t think you can get away with that!” Mako told her.

He ran to chase after her, finding a water balloon or two of his own to throw at her. The next thing he knew, Katek had ambushed him from behind and climbed on his back. The girls didn’t weigh a lot, but they were still a lot bigger than they used to be, so it took him by surprise. Katek had actually succeeded in tackling him and this action pushed him into the pool. _She is Korra’s offspring; I shouldn’t be this surprised,_ he thought as he surfaced. Korra had always been stronger than him. Mako was pulled from this thought as Miyabi approached the poolside with a squirt gun.

_It doesn’t matter if the women are leaving me behind, my girls love me. They always will. That’s enough. They will always be enough._

Several hours later, the party had come to a close. Mako obtained dry clothes and was helping clean up the yard. He went inside where Korra and Asami were working on the kitchen.

“I can’t believe she actually tackled you into the pool, Mako!” Asami was laughing.

“Are we still on that?” Mako grumbled.

“Yes, a ten-year-old tackled you. You’re never living that one down, buddy.” Opal chided.

“I’m so proud of her.” Korra said, with a tear in her eye from laughing.

“I should have known your child would be able to over power me.” Mako commented.

“Yes, you should have. Besides, they’ve been in karate for years now. They know how to handle themselves.” Korra agreed.

“Where are the girls?” Bolin asked as he came in from the yard.

“Hopefully not feeding Naga anymore ice cream. Spirits know she’s going to have a stomach ache later that I’m going to have to clean up.” Korra said.

“I’ll go get them. I want to know what your news is, Bo.” Mako said.

“You have news, Bolin?” Asami asked.

Mako didn’t hear the answer; he had left the room to find the girls. He found them with Naga, but no ice cream in sight, which he didn’t know whether that was a good or bad thing. They could have already fed it to her.

Once everyone was gathered back in the living room, Bolin and Opal stood in front of them and held hands. “Well, as you know, we have some news.” Bolin said, with a face of barely contained glee.

“I’m pregnant!” Opal said.

The room erupted into exclamations, everyone expressing their happiness and congratulations. The girls immediately discussed whether it would be a boy or girl and started picking out names. Mako turned to embrace his brother. “That’s amazing, congrats, Bo. I love you, man.”

“Thanks. I love you, too. Hopefully I can be as good of a father as you.” Bolin said as they parted.

“Well, you’re already a better husband, so just keep that up and you’ll be fine.” Mako said, internally wincing at his own self-deprecating joke. He didn’t know what else to do though. He felt funny. He had just gotten over the women getting closer, and now another strange emotion was gripping him. Suddenly, Mako just wanted to go home.

He toughed it out, though, and left when everyone else did. Mako didn’t let on that he was feeling weird. He kept a smile on his face and never once said anything negative. Now, if he could figure out what he was actually feeling.

He knew that if he hadn’t cheated that Asami and he would have had at least another kid, if not two. But he had also realized over the years that it was for the best that things happened the way they did. Mako and Asami weren’t a good couple. They were together out of convenience. Neither wanted to be alone and they liked each other well enough. That was why he had fallen for Korra in the first place. There was a passion there that had been missing between Asami and he. It was all fire and anger, in the end, but passion none-the-less. It was literal fire in the end too; Korra had set some of his clothes aflame when she kicked him out for good.

As he thought about his life, he realized he was jealous of his brother. He had a wife that was perfect for him. Their relationship was a great one. Opal and Bolin were made for each other. He was jealous of that. He thought he had found it with Asami, then with Korra, a few times each. But he wasn’t a good fit with either of them. Mako wanted his own person. He wanted a wife again.

There was also the fact that he hated saying goodbye to the girls. Mako had wanted the life he had with Asami. Waking up next to the love of your life, the kids running into the bedroom to wake you up, demanding to be fed or to come play. He had that when the girls stayed at his place, but his bed was always empty when they came running in. Mako wouldn’t trade a minute with his girls, but he couldn’t help but wish things had turned out differently. That he was with them all the time. That he had a partner of his own and they all lived together.

Mako sighed on his couch in his empty apartment. He grabbed another beer and tried to forget about how jealous he was of Bolin.


	16. Asami Distracts Herself

** Asami **

Asami wasn’t sure how they had become such good friends in such a short amount of time. She did know, but it was still alarming in some ways. And just as she didn’t know how they became such good friends after spending ten years keeping each other at arm’s length, Asami didn’t know how her feelings of friendship toward the woman had turned into something more.

She had tried to deny it at first, but she gave in after a while. Asami knew she was attracted to Korra. There was something almost irresistible about the woman. For the first time in ten years, she finally understood how her ex-husband had an affair with this woman. Once she got to know Korra, really know her, she couldn’t help but like her. Her energy was infectious.

All those things that Asami found annoying, well, they were still annoying. But she saw all the other amazing parts of Korra she hadn’t let herself see all those years. She just never thought about her that way. Granted, she had no idea that the woman was bisexual until seeing her at the bar, but that wasn’t exactly an excuse. Asami had never wanted to see Korra in any way other than part of the parenting squad. So that’s the way she saw her, no matter what.

After she realized that she had feelings for her, Asami made up her mind that she couldn’t act on these feelings. The important thing was the girls. The girls were always first. She wouldn’t jeopardize their parenting dynamic for…she didn’t know what exactly. But it wasn’t going to happen. Asami knew that.

When Korra went home from the bar with Ginger, Asami took a while to decipher her feelings about it. It was only a few days later, when Korra brought dinner as a thank you for fixing the car, that Asami put it all together. Korra was talking about Ginger and Asami started picturing what Korra would be like in bed. She knew then that she was jealous. Jealous of Ginger for getting to sleep with Korra.

Still, it was so nice to have Korra as a friend. It had been so long since she had anyone in her life like that. Asami’s friends from the bar were drinking buddies, at best, not true friends you could call in a crisis.

The girls loved this new arrangement! They got to spend time with two of their parents together and to that them was amazing. Asami couldn’t help but smile when she saw them running around and looked over to see Korra by her side. She wanted to reach out, grab the woman’s hand. Be the reason she was smiling her crooked smile. But she held herself back. Asami was sure there was a hole in her tongue from biting it so often. 

For months, it went on like this. Miyabi turned eleven just before the official beginning of winter. They had an equally big party for her, but this had to be inside the house instead because of the weather. No one minded though. Asami’s house was big enough and the kids and adults had a great time.

Asami was pining in secret over Korra. She had imagined what it would be like to sleep with her too many times to count. She was just glad the woman seemed oblivious to her inner turmoil. It wasn’t worth the risk. There were times she thought maybe Korra felt something too, but Asami tried not to dwell. Everything had fallen apart when Mako had an affair and subsequently tried to start dating both of them again. Asami couldn’t bare the thought of losing the perfect parenting squad they had in place. And she couldn’t bare the thought of losing Korra’s friendship.

Opal was due in a month or two, and that meant their extended family would grow. Asami was so happy for them. But the thought made her lonely each time. She had been so full of hope during her pregnancy. Life was just beginning for her and her family at that time. She was glad her life didn’t turn out how she had originally wanted. It didn’t keep her from wanting a partner though.

She wasn’t sure how deep her feelings for Korra ran. She just knew she was attracted to her and she wasn’t going to act on it. If they did get together, could Korra be a partner long term? But no, that was a ridiculous thought. She enjoyed the woman’s company that was it. She was nice to look at too. Spirits, her body! Asami had thought of all the things she would do if she ever got Korra naked…but no. Never. She was never going to cross that line.

It was during the last month or so of Opal’s pregnancy that Asami got a call from an old friend. Friend might be too strong of a word, but at least someone she used to know. Someone she thought was out of her life. But, here he was calling her, saying he was in town, and wanting to know if she’d like to go out with him for dinner.

Asami was lonely and needed a distraction from Korra. So she told Iroh yes.


	17. Korra Wakes Up

** **

** Korra **

Korra liked having Asami as a friend. It was weird at first, to change their dynamic after this long. But as soon as they did, it was like, what had they been waiting for? They had so much fun together. Korra felt things around Asami she hadn’t in a long time. And for several months, she was able to convince herself that it was platonic. Korra thought she had just needed a friend in her life. She really didn’t have too many of her own.

It was one fateful evening when Asami brought Miyabi over to Korra’s apartment for the night that Korra realized she might feel something more than friendship for the other woman. Korra heard the knock, Naga let her know someone was at the door as well, and Katek ran to let her sister and second mom into the house.

When Korra turned the corner, she had to stop herself from drooling. Asami was in a red dress that hugged every curve she had. There was a slit that went above her knee on one side and two very thin straps that did not hide her shoulders. Asami’s hair was done up in a bun. Not her usual messy mom style bun, but a meticulous one, held in place by hairspray. There were two curls left out that dangled and framed her face. Asami’s makeup was flawless too. Korra thought she looked good regardless of whether she was wearing makeup, but this was something else. Her eyelids were smoky, her lashes stuck out perfectly, and her lips were the same bright red as her dress.

Korra picked her jaw off the floor and tried her best not to stare. She knew she was failing miserably, but at least she tried. “Y-you look nice. W-what’s the occasion?” Korra finally managed to say. Her voice was throaty and low; Korra wasn’t sure where it came from. She coughed after she spoke, trying to clear her throat.

“Oh, um, just, well…” Asami looked uncomfortable. They both looked behind them to see that the girls were out of earshot.

“You have a date, don’t you?” Korra whispered with a quirked brow.

“Uh, yeah. I suppose I do.” Asami blushed.

“Well? Who is it with?” Korra wasn’t sure she wanted to know the answer, but she couldn’t help her curiosity. This was out of the blue. She thought Asami might tell her about something like this instead of springing it on her.

“Well, Iroh actually called me. Told me he was in town. I haven’t seen him since, oh spirits, it’s probably been fifteen years. Before I met Mako, anyway. He called and I thought it would be nice to catch up, at the very least.”

“So, you’re going on a date with a general who also happens to be a prince?”

“Shut it you. Not a word to anyone. I don’t even know if I’ll like him. I only met him a few times when we were younger. We barely even kissed back then.”

“Wait, you never told me you kissed him! You just said your dad tried to get Mako out of the picture and set you up with him! So, you dated him previously?”

“Ok, maybe I glossed over some of the finer details. Yes, we had met a few times, mostly at social functions, but he took me out a few times too. He was all right, but I was in college and he was barely out of boot camp. He was going to be deployed and who knew when I would see him again. I didn’t want that, so I told him that we should just be friends.”

“And now he’s called you up.”

“Yes, now he’s called me up and is taking me to dinner. I had to pull some strings to get a booth somewhere we wouldn’t be spotted. That’s the last thing I want, the press making a big commotion over my dating life. They already have enough on me, most days.” Asami finished bitterly.

“Well, have a good time. Let me know how it goes. Use protection.” Korra joked, but there was an ache in her chest she couldn’t identify.

“Hush. I’m not putting out on the first date.”

“Suit yourself. Spirits know you need it.”

With a playful shove to Korra, Asami turned around and left. Later that night, Korra had put the girls to bed and was climbing into bed herself. Images of Asami in that dress sprang to her mind. She couldn’t help but picture ripping it off the woman and continuing with other actions that would make Asami moan.


	18. First Date with Iroh

**Asami**

“I was sorry to hear about your father. It’s quite a shame. I had always looked up to him.” Iroh said.

“Thank you, I did too. But I guess it goes to show you that everyone has skeletons in their closet.” Asami said.

“Well, you can rest assured that I don’t have anything to hide.”

“That’s good to know. And, same here. You can ask me anything you want.”

They stared at each other over the table. Asami was having a nice time, she had to admit. Iroh was handsome. He was kind. And he was interesting. There was never a lull in the conversation. It really felt like talking to an old friend.

The waiter refilled their wine glasses and brought out the appetizers. They chatted about Future Industries and about Iroh’s work with the United Forces. He went on about how he wanted to be a leader of the people when he takes the throne eventually. He didn’t want to have the strong nationalism that had been the Fire Nation’s downfall in the past. That’s why he had chosen to join the United Forces instead of the Fire Nation military. Asami had to admit, it was a smart move. She found herself admiring him a little bit.

“So, if you don’t mind me asking, since you said and all…” Iroh began.

“Of course, what is it?” Asami said.

“Why didn’t your marriage work out?”

“Oh. That.”

“I’m sorry, if that’s too personal…”

“No, no. If we continue this, you’ll learn about it eventually. To be honest, we weren’t happy. We got caught up in the heat of the moment and decided to elope. I realized several years later that I just wanted to piss off my father. I picked my ex-husband because he was a decent enough partner at the time. We had our moments of love and passion, but otherwise it was more a marriage of convenience. We just didn’t see it at the time. We would’ve seen it eventually, but certain things forced the issue right after our daughter was born.”

“Such as?”

Asami sighed. She usually tried to save this for at least the second or third date. It almost always ruined the fun parts of dating. But he was asking and she couldn’t very well lie. “He had an affair.”

“Wow. What an asshole.”

“Yes, but…that’s not the worst part.”

“Oh?”

“I didn’t know about it. Apparently, the other woman dumped him and he thought he could just fix his mistake by devoting himself to me. We had just had our daughter when his ex-girlfriend knocked on our door. She was three months pregnant with his child.”

“You’re kidding!”

“I wish. So, long story short, I kicked him out. We tried to rekindle things a little later, but he was doing the same thing with his other baby mama. That was when both of us were done with him in a romantic sense.”

“I don’t know what to say. That’s just quite the story. Are you on good terms with him now? Does he see his daughter a lot?”

“Yes and yes. We are all on very good terms, actually. The girls are six months apart and they’ve been attached at the hip for as long as anyone can remember. I don’t even think of her as Miyabi’s half sister anymore. I have two daughters. And the three of us adults have a system and a contract.”

“That’s really smart actually. I know that kind of situation can be challenging.”

“Yes, that’s an understatement. We call ourselves the ‘parenting squad.’”

Iroh chuckled at the name. “That’s got a nice ring to it.”

“Yes, we were hashing out the contract and talking about dating. We agreed that anyone we got serious with would need to be vetted by everyone before being brought around the girls. Korra, the other mom, likened us to a ‘firing squad’ and then somehow that morphed into ‘parenting squad.’” Asami said with a laugh.

“That’s funny.” Iroh said, laughing some more. “I’m glad that you all get along. I’m sure you’re a great mother. And it sounds like your daughter has a great life.”

“Daughters. I wasn’t exaggerating when I said that. And Korra feels the same way.” Asami corrected him.

“Of course.” Iroh said with a smile.


	19. Compare and Contrast

** **

** Korra **

A few days later, Korra was in the grocery store. Asami didn’t elaborate much on her date, except that she might see Iroh again. Apparently, Iroh will be stationed in Republic City for quite a while. Korra was secretly glad that Asami didn’t seem too enthused about him. She didn’t mention this to anyone though.

Korra reached the checkout line and started putting the groceries on the belt. She happened to glance at the tabloid magazines that were above it. She did a double take at one of the covers. Korra reached for the magazine and stared at it.

It was the Republic City Gossiper. Not known for its heavy hitting journalism, but it wasn’t one of the magazines that claimed aliens or lizard people have replaced your neighbor. The headline read: “Sato and the Fire Prince: Republic City’s Hottest New Couple?” There was a photo of the two kissing at Harmony Tower. Asami was in that red dress that Korra had fantasized about. It was too much.

“Do you want that?” The cashier asked.

“What?” Korra said, coming out of a daze.

“The magazine. Are you going to buy it?”

“Oh. Sure.” Korra didn’t want to read it, but the issue just came out today. She figured Asami needed to see it, at the very least.

Korra left the store in a bad mood. She hurried home to put the groceries away and then over to Asami’s to pickup Katek. She tried her best to act aloof when she was there, but it wasn’t working.

“What’s wrong, mom?” Katek asked her.

“Oh, nothing sweetie. I’m just tired. I’m ready for dinner and bedtime. What about you?” Korra asked her.

“Never!” Katek yelled and ran around Asami’s living room with Miyabi. Korra swore the two never ran out of energy.

“Asami? A word?” Korra asked after a minute or two of the girls running around.

“Girls, can you please go outside for a few minutes?” Asami asked. They did as they were told.

“I thought you said you only had an ok time with Iroh?”

“I did. We might see each other again. There weren’t any solid plans made though. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Um, you might not want to see this, but I figure you’re going to want to know about it anyway.” Korra unfurled the magazine from where she had curled it and stuffed it into her back pocket. She handed it over to Asami.

Asami took it, with a confused look on her face. Then, her face went to shock as she saw the cover. She gasped and covered her mouth with the hand not holding the magazine.

“What. The. Fuck. I even looked around before I let him kiss me! I didn’t see anyone! Where in spirits were they hiding?” Asami was livid. “Oh no. What if the girls see this? It was one date Korra!”

Korra felt a little better at this reaction. _It was just one date, not a big deal. You slept with one of her friends, Korra! Repeatedly!_ Korra could also see that the magazine stressed Asami out. So she decided she needed to be a good friend and good parenting squad member and help her mitigate.

“Look, it’ll be fine. You’ll call Mako and we can talk it out. If the girls find out anything, then we can decide how to address it.” Korra assured her.

“You’re right. That’s a perfectly logical thought. I wasn’t thinking properly. I’m just so mad!” Asami said.

“Be mad, just don’t lose your head about it.” Korra said.

They called Mako to let him know, in case he saw the magazine. After a short discussion, they all decided the girls probably wouldn’t find out and it was just one magazine anyway. They could address it later if need be.

* * *

** Asami **

Asami decided to go on a few more dates with Iroh. She was having fun with him. She got butterflies around him sometimes and he was a good kisser. He was easy to talk to. Just like Korra was. At the thought of Korra, Asami’s stomach did a little flip, but she ignored it. After the fifth date, Iroh asked if they could be exclusive and she agreed. Asami officially had a boyfriend.

It still wasn’t time to bring him around the girls or the parenting squad though. It really just meant that when Mako or Korra had the girls, Asami had someone to hang around. Someone that wasn’t Korra. She still made time for the woman, they had grown close, but she knew Korra had her own life and she didn’t want to interfere too much.

Asami had to admit that it was nice to be with someone sexually again. Someone she cared about. Iroh was a good lover and was capable of getting Asami to climax. There were times she felt the heat, the urgency that had been lacking in some of her relationships, but it wasn’t all the time.

Much to Asami’s dismay, the tabloids kept covering the story. She knew it was only a matter of time before the girls found out. If they didn’t see one of the magazines then someone at school could mention something to the girls. She thought about telling them, but decided against it each time.

To Asami’s extreme dissatisfaction, her relationship with Iroh didn’t make her stop thinking about Korra. If anything, she kept comparing the two. She thought about how Korra would never be caught dead at any of the stuffy restaurants that Iroh and she frequented. She couldn’t decide if that was a good or bad thing, though. Iroh couldn’t make her laugh the way Korra did, that was definitely a point in Korra’s favor. Iroh was considerate, a real gentleman, and he knew how to act in high society. Korra was considerate too, but in different ways. No, she would never pull out Asami’s chair, and Asami would probably have to ask for her jacket, rather than Korra offering it in the first place. But Korra knew Asami so well. She could tell when Asami had a bad day, and so she would get the girls put to bed for her or get them all dinner or sometimes both. She knew how Asami took her coffee and she didn’t even have to ask for Korra to place her very specific order when getting takeout, she just did it and didn’t complain.

No, Asami couldn’t stop thinking about Korra. She could forget about her on occasion, but it never really went away. There were days that she couldn’t wait for her date with Iroh to end so she could call Korra or go see the woman.

Asami didn’t really have an answer for what to do in this situation. To her surprise, she again found herself able to understand just how Mako had ended up with his two daughters in the first place.


	20. Opal and Bolin Have a Baby

** Korra **

“Ok, girls. What are the rules around the baby?” Asami asked as the four women walked down the hospital hallways.

“No yelling!” Katek said.

“Very good. What else?” Korra asked them.

“No running!” Miyabi said.

“Mhm. And?” Asami said.

“The baby is fragile.” Miyabi said.

“If we get to hold him, we have to be sitting.” Katek answered.

“I think that’s it. Right?” Korra asked, turning to Asami. She nodded.

Korra wasn’t doing too well with Asami dating the general/prince, but she pretended anyway. He seemed like he was treating her well, and that’s all she could ask. If Korra couldn’t have her, then she might as well be with someone like a prince. Someone that could give her everything she deserved. And Korra knew at this point that Asami deserved the world.

It took her several days after the dress incident for Korra come to grips with the fact that she had a crush on this woman. This woman that was stuck up, arrogant, and always so proper. 

Except that Korra had seen other parts of her by now. She had seen Asami be so ridiculous, even when the kids weren’t around. Korra was able to really get the woman to let loose if she tried. And Korra tried often. She saw how Asami secretly cried during all the kid movies, especially the Disney ones. She saw Asami’s passion for engineering and how formidable she could be when talking business. Most importantly for Korra, she saw that what she had mistaken for superiority over those less fortunate than her was really benevolence. She showed she cared by spending money or providing something that only her status could get. Korra saw all this and more. Korra saw all of Asami. She saw it all and wanted more. So much more.

Then, Asami told her that Iroh was officially her boyfriend. Korra had to pretend to be happy for her, but on the inside she was in pain. So Korra tried her best to push the feelings down. She worked out. Spent time with Naga. She had sex. A lot. But none of it really helped the gnawing feeling she had in her gut when she thought about Asami and the general.

A few days after Asami and Iroh were officially an item, Opal had the baby. It was a boy, named Xinyi. Mako was already at the hospital and the women were finally able to come and visit. The girls especially were bouncing off the walls in excitement. Korra had been a little subdued, considering the news about Iroh, but she was trying her best to remain happy about the new bundle of joy.

They walked in the room and the girls rushed over, but were careful not to actually run. Korra laughed at this. They were so predictable.

“He’s so small.” Katek commented.

“Did we look all scrunched up and red like this?” Miyabi asked.

All the adults burst out laughing.

“Yes, honey. That’s what babies look like when they are just born.” Mako answered.

“Huh. He looks weird.” Katek agreed.

The adults laughed again. Leave it to kids.

“Well, you two will have to set a really good example for him. He’s going to love you both a lot.” Opal told them.

“Can we hold him?” Katek was shaking with excitement. Miyabi looked like she was over it already.

“Sure, sweetie. Let’s get you all setup in a chair with a pillow and I’ll have Bolin pass him over.” Opal said.

Everyone took turns holding him, even Miyabi. Korra held him and remembered when Katek was that small. She hadn’t spent any time with Miyabi at that age, aside from when she glanced at the baby when she walked into Asami’s house for the first time to tell them she was pregnant.

“He’s beautiful.” Asami said, and looked over Korra’s shoulder at Xinyi.

“Yes, he certainly is.” Korra said to Asami, looking at the woman with a smile. Korra may have used the male pronoun, but she wasn’t referring to the baby in that moment.


	21. Growing Pains

** Miyabi **

“Ooooo, he’s so handsome!” Katek said.

“Really? I guess he is. I dunno though.” Miyabi said.

Miyabi was looking at a magazine with Katek. Someone at school had given it to them. It featured a lot of photos of her mom and some guy. They were kissing in some of the photos and she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Apparently, Katek didn’t know either.

“Does this mean he’s going to move into your house?” Katek asked.

“I hope not. I want you and Korra to move in.” Miyabi said with a pout.

“Me too! I thought our moms were getting romantic.”

“Yeah they’ve been looking at each other weird.”

“Yeah, I don’t really understand why adults do that. Do you?”

“No. But the movies show all show adults looking at each other like that before they kiss. So, do you think this is my mom’s boyfriend?”

“He must be, they’re kissing.” Katek reasoned.

“But, why wouldn’t she tell us?” Miyabi asked.

“I don’t know. Should we ask about it?”

“Hhhmm. No. But they always try to hide stuff from us. I’m so sick of it!”

“Ugh. Me too.”

Miyabi closed the magazine and stuffed it into her bag. She was in a bad mood after seeing that. Katek tried to cheer her up and it worked a little bit. Her sister was always good at knowing what to do.

* * *

** Korra **

Korra had noticed a few changes in the girls recently. It almost seemed like they switched personalities, but Korra knew that was a ridiculous thought. It happened right before Katek turned eleven. Miyabi used to be the more cautious and reserved one, and Katek would go into a situation head on, guns blazing. These days, Katek was holding herself back more, trying to control her limitless energy. Korra knew first hand how terribly that would end. Miyabi became more aggressive and outgoing. She didn’t seem to care about holding anything back.

They usually liked similar things, but definitely had their differences. Lately though, they were branching out from each other more than ever before. They had both joined band at school but they chose different instruments. When they were younger they both swore they were going to play drums together. However, when it came down to it, Miyabi chose to play trumpet and Katek the clarinet. They were both still taking karate, and Korra was glad of that fact. There were days she could tell that Katek was only trying to humor Miyabi by staying in karate so they could do it together.

Katek was starting to notice boys and was really concerned with her appearance. Korra didn’t own a lot of makeup, but she had caught Katek trying to use it a few times. When she noticed this, Korra made sure Asami sat her down and helped her in this endeavor. She helped her with fashion tips too. Korra just didn’t have any interest in these types of things. She had no idea where this had come from.

Miyabi wasn’t interested in any of the girly stuff that Katek was. She liked being outside and playing sports. She still thought boys were gross. Korra wondered if she would always think boys were gross, but it was still too early to say.

Korra noticed Katek was a little more distant than usual. Maybe it was part of trying to hold herself back. She would give one-word answers to questions, which was never something she used to do. She used to always talk a mile a minute. Miyabi took to brooding like Mako. She would stew silently or have angry outbursts. 

The girls also fought more than they ever had either. Korra wasn’t sure what to do with that. They also disobeyed their parents more than they ever had before. They knew what to do with this though; it had been discussed at length between the three adults. Several times.

The girls also hung out with different groups of friends now. They had a lot of mutual ones still, but not all of them. As long as everyone was happy and no one was feeling left out or bullied, then that was fine by Korra. It was just odd, all the changes the girls were going through. Korra supposed they really were growing up.

“Katek, can you please set the table for dinner?” Korra asked.

“Yeah.” Katek said.

Korra continued putting the finishing touches on dinner. After a few minutes she noticed that Katek was still sitting on the couch. “Can you do it now? Asami and Miyabi will be here any minute.”

“Ugh. Can’t it wait until they get here?” Katek asked.

“No. I asked you to do it now. Please get up.”

Katek obeyed but grumbled and made a big spectacle of showing her dissatisfaction about doing this small chore.

“Can you feed Naga too?” Korra asked her.

The girl didn’t even answer; she just grumbled some more and filled Naga’s bowl. There was a knock at the door shortly afterward. “Will you let them in please?” Korra asked.

“Why? Miyabi’s just going to walk in like usual.” And right one cue, the door opened. Korra had to take a deep breath so she didn’t lose her temper with her daughter.

“Come in!” Korra yelled so that Asami would cross the threshold. She knew the woman was still too polite to just walk in like the girls did.

“Hey, I brought beer.” Asami told her.

“Oh, thank the spirits. Will you please open one for me? Dinner will be ready in like ten minutes.” Korra asked. Asami obliged and Korra took a long drink.

“How are you, Katek?” Asami asked.

“Fine.” Katek answered. The girls were sitting on the couch together, but not really talking.

Asami looked over at Korra, who could only shrug her shoulders. Asami changed tactics. “Can I help with anything?”

“No, thank you though. Just make yourself comfortable.” Korra said.

The meal passed enjoyably enough. Korra and Asami did most of the talking though. The girls didn’t seem like they were fighting, but they weren’t their usual selves.

“What is with you two?” Asami finally asked.

“Nothing.” They both answered at the same time.

“Well at least they still have that down.” Korra mumbled under her breath.

“Are you two fighting about something?” Asami probed further.

“Nope.” Miyabi answered.

“It’s nothing.” Katek said.

“It’s obviously something. Out with it.” Korra said.

“It’s fine, mom.” Katek said but wouldn’t elaborate. She started clearing the dishes without being asked, which Korra was happy about. But when she was done asked, “Can I go to my room now?”

“Sure, whatever.” Korra said.

She left and Asami turned to the other one. “Well?”

“She’s mad because the boy she likes told me he likes me.” Miyabi said.

“Oh.” Korra and Asami both answered.

“I don’t like him. I told her that. And I told him that. Boys are gross.” Miyabi said.

“So then why is she still mad at you?” Korra asked.

“I dunno.” Miyabi answered.

“Just give her some space and she’ll come around.” Asami said.

“It’s fine. There are a lot of secrets going around, apparently.” Miyabi said with a bitter tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Korra asked her.

“Can we go home now?” Miyabi asked, turning to Asami.

“Sure, sweetie. Thanks for dinner, Korra. Sorry we couldn’t stay longer, but I guess it’s a school night.” Asami said.

“No worries see you two soon.” Korra said as she hugged them both and they left.

Korra was worried about the girls. But the moment she hugged Asami, it all went away. The moment the hug stopped, her worry turned to her inappropriate feelings toward her friend. Her friend who had a boyfriend.


End file.
